Yu-Gi-Oh! Patterns
by Artworx88
Summary: Yugi Moto and his friends are finally on winter break after defeating Pegasus at the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. Yugi, Joey, Tristen, Tea, and Bakura all are happy in these times, but will only enjoy the peace for a short while, for worse magical things are coming. For the mysterious, dark spirit held inside Yugi Moto's millennium puzzle, shapes the patterns of Yugi's destiny...
1. Distant Memories

Rating: Teens and Up  
Shippings: YamixTea aka RevolutionShipping (No Yaoi/ Yuri)  
Drama and Suspense between Characters  
Religion: References to Christianity

This fan fiction takes place after Yugi defeated Maximilian Pegasus at the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. After that, Yugi and his friends go back to school, waiting for winter break to come...

One cold, winter day in the Domino City, Yugi Moto and his friends are on winter break at Yugi's house. At this point, Yugi has his Grandpa back, as well as the Kaiba brothers, who are celebrating their break elsewhere. Joey, Tristen, Tea, and Bakura all are happy in these times, but will only feel this happiness for a short time, for worse magical things are coming. This problem begins with the mysterious, evil dark spirit that is held inside Yugi Moto's millennium puzzle...

"Aww, _come on_, Yugh! Y'know how much we've wanted to spend some time with ya! Can't we just stay over for Christmas?"

Yugi was sitting on one of the living room couches with his friends, when he nervously replied to Joey, "Joey, I already told you, my dad is finally coming home from his business trip. He wants this Christmas to be family only. I can't go against his wishes."

There was a long pause, then Tea positively said, "Well, what if he spends time with you on Christmas, but for half the day, and we spend the other half with you? Would he mind that?"

Yugi paused again, thinking hard on the question, until he firmly said, "I'll ask him. He's actually going to be here in a little-"

"Yugi, Daddy's home!"

A shot of excitement entered Yugi, as he jumped up from the couch and ran to see his dad at the front door.

"Dad!"

Yugi's father is much taller than Yugi in comparison, and had black, average Joe hair with blonde highlights. The rest of Yugi's friends walked over and met Yugi's dad. Yugi has told his dad about them, he's just never seen them in person.

"So, you really want your friends over for Christmas, Yugi? Well, considering that you've gotten straight A's and perfect attendance in school, I'll even let them stay the whole break if they want to. Of course, they'll have to ask their parents for permission. Today's the first day of break, and in 3 weeks it will be Christmas, then 2 weeks after that the break will be over. So, _yeah_, they can stay."

Joy and happiness filled everyone's faces, with Joey running in circles. "Woo-hoo, all right Yugh! This is gonna be the best winter break _ever_!", shouted Joey as he hugged Yugi, along with the rest of his friends. Just then, Grandpa walked out from the kitchen and yelled, "Breakfast is ready!"

And so, Yugi ate breakfast with his family and friends, feeling as though everything was just right. He felt that everything would stay like this, forever.


	2. Vengance is Impulse

Right after breakfast, Yugi and his friends headed for the arcade down at Kaibaland. When they reached their destination, they were seen by Kaiba, who was actually playing a game of pacman with his little brother.

Yugi called out to Kaiba, "Hey Kaiba, how's it going?" Not wanting to look bad in front of his little bro, Kaiba walked towards Yugi and his friends.

"Hello, Yugi Moto. I see you're playing here with your friends. Oh, and yeah I'm okay. I know this is random Yugi, but a little earlier, I was thinking on something."

Yugi was slightly struck by the change in Kaiba's voice, which change from friendly to somewhat serious.

Kaiba continued, "Remember when we dueled each other during Pegasus' tournament? We...never really had that rematch."

A strange impulse of excitement, and payback, flowed through Yugi, which made him completely turn away from the arcade machine to look at Kaiba.

*He's right, we never-*

*-did have that rematch!* The spirit's thoughts from Yugi's millennium puzzle interrupted Yugi's own thoughts, as the spirit took control over Yugi. Yugi's puzzle flashed a gold light, allowing the spirit to have control over Yugi for a limited amount of time.

"That's right, Seto Kiaba, and we're going to have that rematch, right now!" yelled the spirit as he pointed to the nearest dueling arena, which, were practically everywhere in Kaibaland. Disturbed by the bizarre change in Yugi's behavior, Seto became vulnerable, which allowed for the spirit to grab his arm and run with him to the dueling arena.

"Hey! Yugi- you just can't leave us! Come back!" yelled Tristen as he became upset that Yugi had ditched them.

Bakura felt a little strange as well. "Well guys, I guess we'll just have to see what's going to happen. Besides, I can't even beat the first level of pacman!"

"Pacman, smackman! Let's just go see what's up with Yugi, he's acting so weird all of a sudden!" barked Joey.


	3. A Duelist's Deal

The vast space of the dueling arena made the rest of Kaibaland look puny in comparison. Tristen and the rest were watching from the sidelines of the arena when Tristen asked Tea, "Tea, do you think Yugi is okay? He looks rather shut out from everything up there."

Tea glanced at Yugi, who did look off, in every way possible; his stance, which he was tightly hugging himself, knees slightly together. His expression, showing subtle contempt at the corners of his mouth, and then the way his cards were scattered on the dueling surface in front of him.

"I'm not quite sure myself, Tristen. I don't know why Yugi would still be holding on to that rematch with Kiaba; well, at least re-matching in a revengeful manner."

With strength and confidence, Kaiba approached the dueling field, fists by his sides. As he was walking up the staircase to get to the mechanical riser, he thought to himself, "There's something very off and different about Yugi, but I'm just not sure what."

When Kiaba had reached the top of the dueling arena, he took a hard gaze at Yugi's face. Their eyes had met, with Yugi's subtle contempt now showing fully on his face.

*_Contempt_. Why contempt? Why does he want to duel with contempt, and revenge?*

"Kiaba! I want to make a deal with you!"

Kiaba twitched, feeling the tensity in the air. "...A deal? What kind of deal?" Yugi's contempt turned into a concealed smirk, letting go of hugging himself.

"This is the deal. For making Yugi feel horrible and cry that day you dueled him, I will show no mercy. So, if I win the duel, you will give me your most prized card, the blue eyes white dragon- and not just one of them, but all of them that you possess! If you win, you are allowed to take one of the many cards that I own. Do you accept this deal?" All of Yugi's friends were shocked of the deal Yugi offered, everyone but Kiaba.

"Yugi, why would you make such an _offer_?" said Joey very seriously.

Yugi completely ignored Joey. "And come on! Why would Kiaba even think about giving up his blue eyed white drag-"

"I accept your deal, Yugi Moto." Said Kaiba to Yugi. Everyone gasped, and Yugi's concealed smirk turned into a scornful smile.

"Perfect. I'm glad you accepted my deal. There's no turning back now, Seto Kiaba. Now let's duel! Start the clock," Yugi placed all his cards down in a stack, "and make your move!"

"With honor!" shouted Kiaba as he shuffled his cards then put them on the surface in front of him.

The duel started with Yugi, since he was the challenger. Pulling out 5 cards from the deck, he placed both of his cards face down. Out of the 5 cards Kiaba pulled from his deck, he placed a trap card face down, and picked the Sorcerer's Servant, putting him into attack mode on Yugi's card that face down on the left. The Sorcerer's Servant's attack points were much more than average, but its defense points were weak.

"Now Sorcerer's Servant- attack the card face down to the left!"

"Sorry, Kiaba, but you've just activated my attack card, _The Puppet Master_!"


	4. The Puppet Master

Kiaba felt as though his world had been shattered, for he knew he was going to lose in the next turn.

"What's... what's The Puppet Master?!" shouted Tea to Yugi, who, was certainly focused only on the duel, blocking out everything else around him.

"So, I see that you know what this extremely rare card does, don't you Kaiba?" Yugi, even though he was far away from Kaiba, leaned in close from where he was standing and menacingly asked, "Tell me Kiaba, what does this trap card do to your life points?"

Kiaba felt the undeniable force of Yugi, and had no other choice but to explain. Although Yugi's card looked like an evil, darkness seeping spirit-like version of him, its expression was crazed and other-worldly.

Trembling while speaking, Kaiba uttered to Yugi,"It- it will control any life forms body on the opposing duelist side using its powers from the shadow realm, then have it annihilate its owner's life points the next turn, completely."

"That's right, and you can't do anything about it!" Of everyone that was shocked, Bakura was the least surprised. And so, when the next turn came, Kiaba placed another attack card on the field, the blue eyes white dragon, in an attempt to attack The Puppet Master. "Uh-uh, nope, that was a mistake Kiaba. By attacking the Puppet Master, you activate my trap card, the Mirror of Fate, which will reflect your attack back on you. So, now that your once 1000 life points are now 700, you won't be able to stop me."

Kiaba felt the horror of losing so quickly to Yugi, the horror of losing his 2 blue-eyes white dragon cards.

"Now, Puppet Master, control the Sorcerer's Servant to eliminate Kaiba's life points!" Moving like an evil spirit, the puppet master controlled the Sorcerer's Servant, which destroyed all of Kaiba's life points.

"Noooo!" Falling on his knees, Kaiba's dueling spirit was...broken.

A sweet, flowing sensation of victory and revenge came over the spirit, as he put his right hand on his head, laughing manically. Yami ran over to Kiaba and snatched both of the blue-eyes white dragons' cards from him.

"Finally, Seto Kiaba- my victory and revenge are realized!" Yami was looking down Kiaba, who was on his knees, head down in shame.

"And now... you will-"

*Stop this! Stop this now!*

As Yami was about to grab Kiaba by the collar, he instantly stopped at the sound of Yugi Moto's voice.


	5. Yami's New Purpose

*How dare you, how DARE YOU, DO THIS TO MY FRIENDS!?*, screamed Yugi, which caused Yami to drop his cards, put his hands on his head, and yell in pain.

"No, no- Yugi you have it all wrong! I-I was doing this for-"

*I don't care Yami! Just let me have control of my body! NOW!*

"Ah- argh- n-no! Not-yet!" Yami quickly picked up his 2 new cards, stuffed them in his pocket, then did a speed vault across the dueling stage. Even with the stage being 20 feet high, when Yami landed he was perfectly ok.

"What the-what is Yugi doing!?" Tristen yelled to everyone, "Let's follow him- he's definitely not being himself!"

"Please Yugi, let me explain, then everything will be ok!" Yami was exhausted from all the running, feeling dizzy as a tornado, barely being able to stand. He was in a deserted area in Kaibaland, an area that hasn't been visited in years, due to it being under construction. The place was called, The Graves of Great Fools.

Alone and tired, Yami couldn't take it anymore- he fainted and fell to the cold stone floor. The dead atmosphere only further kept Yami in his deep sleep, tears slowly and softly flowing from his eyes. Yami was being contacted by his ancient Egyptian Pharisees through a dream.

(Yami's dream)

The space was black and empty, only a small light on him. Crying knees to chest, head down, Yami felt two hands on his shoulders. He quickly lifted and turned his head around, only to be shocked to see the leader Pharisee smiling at him.

"Pharaoh, it is I, Alairn Synchren. The other Pharisees and I have been worrying about you." Coming from the blackness, the other Pharisees were kneeling to Yami, who, when he looked at his clothes, he was wearing his Pharaoh clothes. Scrambling to his feet, he was confused and alarmed by it all.

"What- what is the meaning of this?" The Pharisees, though smiling, showed micro expressions of contempt.

"Your honor, we only want to help you in your desire of controlling your vessel."

A chill went down Yami's spine, as he uttered to Alairn, "My- my what? What are you talking about!?"

Echoing whispers came from the other Pharisees, "The young boy... the vessel..." With eyes shaking, Yami yelled, "No- Yugi is not my vessel- he is my partner- my dueling partner, nothing else!"

"Oh really? Well then, if he's nothing else to you, why even bother staying with him? Why stay with him, when you can separate from the millennium puzzle and fulfill your true desires? Besides wanting to control the boy, you want something much, much more satisfying, and this is what you want."

He placed his thumb on Yami's forehead, which caused Yami to see visions of present day Egypt. Out of control protests, police beating innocent people, bombs going off at the capital city; these were just a few of the many disasters Yami had seen.


	6. Yami's Perfect Vessel

"Now that you've seen what condition your country is in, what are you going to do about it? Actually, what can you do about it, pharaoh?"

Speechless. Not the slightest trace of a word was released from Yami's lips.

"What to do... for your country... for your people..." whispered the other Pharisees, as an echo.

"Pharaoh, I have a wonderful idea on how you can save Egypt. Here is my idea: you don't tell anyone about anything I am about to say, especially that young boy. You must first gain the trust of the boy, and then separate from him and the millennium puzzle. When you are ready to separate, wait until the boy goes to sleep, and we will separate you two then. Explain to him in the morning that you are separating because you want to visit Egypt, but you take him and his friends along as well. Take the current rulers place by giving a speech to your people, and then become the new ruler of Egypt."

This is where Alairn holds his hand up. "Now here's the catch: the people of Egypt are sick and disgusted by having an older aged ruler. The people of Egypt have had young rulers for as long as Egypt has been around, and you know that. You, being 17, still don't fit that category of being a young ruler; they will see you as a young adult. So, you will invite the boy and his friends to your throne room, where you will call upon the boy to come up to you. You will then have him become your vessel, meaning you will be in total control of his body: looks, voice, everything.

Now Alairn was crossing his arms; contempt was written all over his face. "But, he will only be your vessel for 3 years. During those 3 years you will restore Egypt to how it was in ancient times, using slaves from enemy countries. You will show your people your new body, which is the body of a young 14-year-old boy, which will satisfy the people of Egypt. The only thing the boy will be able to do is think inside your head, nothing else. Do these terms meet up to your standards? Or would you rather quietly watch Egypt fall, while you're hanging around a 14-year-old boy who has nothing to do with you? Nothing, except become your perfect vessel."

Yami felt like he was being pulled by his ancient self, by Atem, the person Yami once was. His eyes became cold, and selfish, as he put out his hand to the leader Pharisee to accept the deal.

"I accept your terms, Alairn. I will restore Egypt, and have Yugi Moto become my vessel." They shook hands, and then the Pharisees faded into the blackness.

"We will be waiting for you, Pharaoh Atem."


	7. The Burdens of Friends

Synchronized back into control, and reality, Yugi awoke to being in bed at Kaibaland's hospital.

"What? Oh God, what happened?" Yugi slowly sat up from bed, rubbing his tired eyes to help wake up better. He gave the room a good glance.

"I'm... I'm in Kaibaland's hospital." Just then, a male nurse holding a clipboard and thermometer walked in. After the nurse had checked Yugi's temperature and health status, he gave Yugi some Tylenol.

"You're friends were the ones that found you, Yugi. They said they were very confused and worried about you." Yugi put the glass cup aside, then questioned, "Well, where are my friends right now? Can they come and see me?"

"Of course, they're waiting in the lobby. I'll go fetch them for you."

The nurse quickly walked out and a couple minutes after that, Tristen, Tea, Joey and Bakura walked in. They all crowded around Yugi with worried expressions on their faces.

"Yugi," began Tea,

"Are you OK?" finished Joey.

"Why did you," started Tristen,

"Just run off like that?" ended Bakura.

"S-stop! One thing at a time!" yelled Yugi, which made them all back away a little. Yugi looked down slightly, then immediately lifted up his head.

He whispered to them, "I...I'm sorry guys. I'm just under a lot of stress right now. I didn't mean to get angry." They were all quiet.

Joey felt as though he was the one to speak up. "It's alright Yugh, but can you at least explain A, why you treated Kiaba the way you did, B, how you were able to jump off the dueling stage and live, and C, why you ran off. Can you?"

"Well, how did you guys find me?"

"That's not answering my questions. Please Yugh, we just want to know." Yugi felt like their questions were heavy weights on his shoulders.

"Alright, then I won't hold anything back."

And so, Yugi explained to his friends that the spirit inside his millennium puzzle took over him, dueled Kaiba to take revenge for the mistake that the spirit did to him back when he lost against Kiaba. Yugi also managed to speak through the spirits mind to stop him from hurting Kiaba.

"I was able to jump off the, no, the spirit was able to jump off the stage because the spirit can't die, so the impact of the fall wouldn't affect him. He ran away because he didn't want to talk to me when you guys were around; he didn't want you guys to know about him. After that, well, the spirit had passed out, and the only thing I could see was blackness. No sounds, no feelings, just blackness. Then I woke up here in bed."

The silence continued, until Bakura said in a strange voice, "It's that spirit of yours, it wants you to be its vessel. He will try to gain your trust, lure you into being close to him, and then take you as his perfect...young...vessel."

Yugi twitched, and everyone else gasped besides Bakura. Yugi questioned to Bakura, "Vessel? Bakura...what do you mean, vessel?"

Bakura looked down, gripping his shirt where his heart is. "I've said too much, forgive me." Bakura immediately passed out and fell forward on Yugi.

"Bakura!" gasped Yugi.

Tea ran out to the hallway and yelled, "Somebody, help! My friend just passed out!"


	8. Looks Can Be Deceiving

After 4 hours, Yugi and his friends were still at the hospital, while Bakura was in urgent care. Yugi was free to go, as he was sitting in the lobby with them, waiting. Joey yawned really loud, then sleepily said, "Man guys, it's already like, 10:30 at night. I'm sorry, I would stay, but my mom will kill me if I'm not home by 10:45. See you guys later, and tell Bakura I wish him good health."

Joey got up from his chair and left the hospital, walking home. Tristen then said, "Uh, same here guys." "Yeah, same here.", said Tea. Yugi glanced at both of them.

"So, you guys got to go too?" They both nodded their heads. They waved goodbye, then walked out together and walked home. Yugi, all alone, simply sighed and called his Grandpa to pick him up. "Come on, Grandpa, pick up." No answer.

"Excuse me sir, but is your name Yugi Moto?", Yugi got up from his chair and turned around. He saw the nurse that was helping Bakura. "Yeah, that's my name." "Well, I'm sorry to say this, but your friend Bakura is in a coma." Yugi's heart skipped a beat. "Coma, why!?" "That's the question we've been trying to answer, Yugi. But, you are allowed to see him, and I was about to ask you if you wanted to-" "Yes. Take me to him right away."

The male nurse paused, then did as Yugi asked. When Yugi entered Bakura's hospital room, he was alone with him, since the nurse left them alone. Feeling rather timid, Yugi sat on the chair next to Bakura's bed.

"He's...going to be asleep for a while, I might as well just stay here overnight and watch him.", whispered Yugi to himself. He noticed how softly Bakura was breathing in his sleep, eyes closed gently. "Hmm, at least he's resting peacefully." Now rather sleepy himself, Yugi rested his head against the comfy chair, and fell asleep.

It was still night time. When Yugi had woken everything was blurry, and he felt warm hands lightly gripping his shoulders. His vision slowly became clearer, as he began to see a male figure appearing.

"Mmm, Ba...kura...is that you?" Lightly chuckling, he deceivingly whispered to Yugi, "Yesss...it is. Now, Yugi, would you like to see your future... as a vessel?"

Shock shot through Yugi's blood, as he immediately was controlled by Yami for a short amount of time. "That's right, Yugi is my vessel, and you won't ruin my plans of making that reality!" Yami powerfully kicked Bakura's spirit in the gut, which sent him thrown against the room door.

"Aaarrgh!" Wincing in pain, Yami gripped him by the collar. "If you tell Yugi ANYTHING, you will pay the consequences."

"Ha, like what?" A micro expression of contempt appeared on Yami's face as he replied, "I can strip you of your vessel, and then throw you back into the Shadow Realm." Bakura's spirit gasped," You- you wouldn't!"

Yami gripped him even tighter now, and menacingly said, "Don't push your luck. You say anything to my vessel, you won't be sorry. Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut." He threw him against the wall, which caused him to knock out. "Nothing will stop me from entering my vessel's perfect body."


	9. The Separation

Bakura returned ownership to his body, but was still knocked out. Yami walked over to Bakura and picked him up. He noticed how lightly he was breathing and the slight despair on his face.

"What an innocent vessel for this spirit. I guess innocent vessels, are the perfect ones." He lightly brushed the hair away from Bakura's eyes, and then placed him back in his hospital bed. He glanced at the clock. "It's one in the morning. I better get some rest, and let Yugi wake up; he'll never know anything happened."

He sat on the chair, and then closed his eyes. "All I have to do now is gain Yugi's trust, then wait till he's asleep, so the Pharisees can separate our bodies. Oh, how tangled are the threads of fate for my young vessel..." Yami then fell asleep.

Yugi had woken up, and it was morning. "Huh? Is It morning already?" He rubbed his eyes, and then noticed everyone was ready to go, including Bakura.

"Yugi!" Everyone shouted in a friendly tone, which made Yugi jump up from his chair. "Whoa guys, you scared the living cards outa me!" "Cards, smards, let's go to your house and have an awesome sauce sleepover!" Joey ran out, kind of randomly, and everyone else followed.

At Yugi's house...

After relentless hours of playing video games together, everyone decided to call it a day. It was 11:00 at night. Everyone was chilling in the living room, doing their own thing. Joey and Bakura were sleeping, Tea was reading, Tristen was listening to music on his Mp3, and Yugi was chilling on the couch. Grandpa walked over to Yugi and quietly said, "Tell your friends that it's past bedtime." "Okay, Grandpa."

Grandpa gave Yugi a family kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight Yugi. Remember, Christmas is only a week and a half away." "I know." And so, Grandpa went to bed, Yugi told everyone who was awake to go to sleep, and Yugi went to his room and got comfy in bed.

Feeling the soft, cold blankets only made Yugi feel even more relaxed. "Ahh, finally, some relaxation from all the stress." He felt like he was lying on a cloud, and was getting sleepy. *Ahh, you must feel very relaxed, aren't you Yugi?* Yugi, who didn't even recognize that Yami was speaking through his mind, calmly replied, "Yeah, I am relaxed."

*You trust me Yugi, right?*

"Yes."

*Good, I'm glad you do. Now get to rest, you need your sleep. I'll see you in the morning.* Yugi ever so slowly fell asleep, which created an opening for the Pharisees to separate Yami from Yugi.


	10. To Egypt!

In the morning, Yugi was waking up, so he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Yawning while opening his eyes, the first person he sees is Yami, not as a spirit, but as a supernatural being. Yami appears to be human, but actually has hidden powers.

"Huh? Spirit? Is that you?" Yami walked over to the light switch and flicked it on, brightening the room up. Then he walked over to Yugi and sat next to him.

"Yugi, it is me, but call me Yami." "Ya...mi?" Yami smiled, and then nodded his head. "Look, I know this may be confusing to you, but the reason I was separated from you and the millennium puzzle is because I'm going to visit my home land." Yugi was confused, but this time he wasn't going to stress about it.

"Your home land? And what land would that be?" Yami's expression appeared to be relaxed, but showed a micro expression of anger. "Egypt. Back then, about 3,000 years ago, I was the pharaoh of Egypt. I want to see what type of person the current ruler is."

Yugi looked hurt, then timidly said, "Yami, Egypt is at war. Egypt is in the worst times it's ever been in. Their economy is falling at a rapid pace-" "I know. That's why I'm going to become Egypt's new ruler." Yugi gasped, and then stood up from his bed.

"Really? That's crazy- but how will you become the new ruler? Egypt doesn't want any more adult-aged rulers; I've heard that from the protestors on TV." Yami walked out to the living room, where everyone was just waking up. Yami clapped his hands twice, then shouted, "Everyone, get up. We're going to Egypt."

"What!? Egypt!? And who are you anyways?!" Hollered Joey as he immediately sat up from his sleeping bag. Yugi ran over to Joey, who was inches away from strangling Yami. Yugi got in the way of Yami with his arms out.

"No, Joey, let me explain! He's the spirit that was once contained in my millennium puzzle, you can trust him! He's my...my...friend." Yami twitched when Yugi said, "He's...he's my friend." *Friend? Why does he see me as his friend?*, thought Yami to himself. Joey calmed down, letting Yami explain why they're coming with him to Egypt.

"So, we're pretty much coming so that we can back up Yugi if they don't believe him as being the holder of the millennium puzzle. Am I right?" Joey asked Yami. "Correct. Now, let's go already, before the current ruler makes his speech, which will be in 48 hours. To Egypt!"

And so, they set off for travel by plane to Egypt, which made Yami quite uncomfortable, considering he's never traveled in a plane before. The flight took about 17 hours. When they arrived, they snuck in the palace quite quickly, getting passed the guards by being invisible; Yami's powers allowed for this.

As they headed toward the huge balcony where the ruler would give his speech, Yami quietly whispered to them, "I will make you all visible again when I call Yugi up to the stand. For now, hide in that corner near the doors."


	11. Laying Down the Law

They did so, and just in time, since the ruler just walked out to the balcony from those doors that lead to the throne room. The ruler appeared to be at least 40, with dark brown hair, very tall, very muscular, and tan skin. He was wearing a grey business suit with a black tie, and a golden pin attached to the left upper part of his suit. The pin resembled a snake coiled over a fire, with a peace sign being held in the snake's mouth.

Instead of everyone cheering for the Pharaoh, everyone was screaming, yelling, cursing and booing at him. Yami took great note of this.

The ruler adjusted the microphone to his desired height, then said in Arabic, "My citizen's of Egypt, I have several new laws that were passed, that need to be told to the general public."

What creeped Yami, Yugi and his friends out was that there was a glass wall that separated the Pharaoh from the public, and for a good reason too. The public wasn't ready to hear the speech; they were ready to shut him up; new un-right laws were the last thing they wanted, so they were prepared to throw whatever they could at him. The pharaoh continued.

"As you may know, the laws that are currently in session, the general public won't follow, so new laws were made. Making new laws helps constrict the public to have no other choice but to obey the laws over all. These new laws are-" "Wait! I will be speaking right now, not you."

Yami walked over to the Pharaoh and pushed him away from the stand. Since Yami already got rid of the guards that were there, nothing could stop him from speaking. "Tie him up!" yelled Yami as Joey, Tristen, and Bakura tied up the Pharaoh against a tall pillar, making him unable to move. They also taped his mouth so he couldn't speak. The entire crowd was confused yet amused to see their Pharaoh tied up like that, so they let Yami speak.

Yami's heart was pounding; he hasn't spoken to a crowd like this in centuries, but, he swallowed his fear and began to speak. "People of Egypt, I am Yami, the King of Games. As some of you may know, I defeated the world famous Maximilian Pegasus at his tournament 3 months ago. I am also, Pharaoh Atem of Egypt, but I was pharaoh 3,000 years ago." The whole crowd was astonished, but let Yami continue speaking; they would rather hear Yami speak than their current ruler.

"I have seen the devastation you and your families have been experiencing, and I won't allow for it anymore. With all the protesting, wars, and everything else in between, I will bring Egypt back on its feet again. I, Pharaoh Atem, am 17 years old. Does my age as ruler satisfy you all?"

Yami's heart was thumping again- he was hoping they would want him, not Yugi. If they wanted someone at Yugi's age, his relationship with Yugi would fall apart-completely.


	12. Innocence is Gold

"All of you have been fighting just to stand against the lies and demands of distraction. I was once a spirit that was withheld inside Yugi Moto's millennium puzzle, and my spirit was born into the life of being a king again, of being Pharaoh again. Now my people, brace yourselves for the moment of truth. The rulers of Egypt are not trying to help you, they want to kill you, they want Egypt to fall, and I won't let that happen. So, do I fit for being your new ruler?"

The people were murmuring things like, "He seems very great but he's not young enough." and "Great speaker, but is still a young adult." Two brave men shouted to Yami,

"We want you as our new ruler, but we want a more youthful ruler. A 14-year-old boy maybe?" Yami's heart sank. *It's true. The Pharisees were right, they want a very, very young ruler, and that means...*

Yami felt guilty, but shook it off and yelled, "Yugi, come forth to me." When Yami had his arm pointed in the direction of Yugi and his friends, they became visible again. The citizens gasped when they saw that, wondering if their new ruler truly did have hidden powers. Yugi, who was nervous and feeling small, walked toward Yami with grace.

Yugi was next to Yami on the left, so Yami was holding Yugi by the torso with his left arm. "This... is the boy that holds the millennium puzzle around his neck. I was once in this millennium puzzle, but as a spirit. Yugi Moto is his name, and he will be..."

Yami's heart was racing; he felt like this moment, whatever he would say would either cross out his friendship with Yugi, or keep it strong for the rest of his life. Yugi looked up at Yami with big innocent eyes, vulnerable in his stance. *His innocence. That is what they want, and I don't have any innocence. I...I must make Yugi my vessel- it's for the best, for the people of Egypt. He'll understand...he has to. For Egypt.*

Yami continued his speech. "...he will be my friend and partner in restoring Egypt to peace again! My people of Egypt, you will have me as your ruler, but you will also have a young ruler. As confusing as it may seem, it won't be once you see who I will become. Young, little Yugi, will be here for you all, along with his friends. His friends will help keep the balance by making sure each and every household is well fed, nourished and treated very well. Come forth, Yugi's friends, my friends!"

Yami was smiling at them all, and they all gathered around Yami. Joey whispered to Tea, "Tea, I don't like the sound of what he's sayin 'bout Yugh." Tea whispered back, "Yeah, me neither, it's all too strange."

Yami gripped Yugi even tighter when he shouted, "Yugi Moto will not fail you! I will not fail you! He will bring peace! I will bring peace! He will be the perfect Pharaoh for you all! I will be the perfect Pharaoh for you all! Soon you all very soon!"


	13. Getting Settled In

The crowd was cheering at the top of their lungs, "Yami, Yugi! Yami, Yugi!" Yami, who has still holding Yugi by the torso, walked away, waving back to his audience as he entered the throne room. Yugi's friends followed, still confused by it all. When the throne room doors closed, Yami immediately let go of Yugi. Yami sighed in relief, then slowly walked toward the throne, and sat on it. He noticed a smaller, shorter throne next to his, so he grinned, rather widely, at Yugi.

"Yugi," lured Yami, which made Yugi twitch.

"Uh, yes, Yami?" "Come here, sit next to me." Yugi glanced back at his friends, and then quietly answered, "Yami, where are my friends going to stay? Are they going to have somewhere to sleep?"

Yami blinked twice, and then plainly answered, "Of course, Yugi. Here, I will show them to their rooms." And so, once everyone got settled in to their own rooms, they stayed in them for the rest of the afternoon.

Yugi and Yami were in the hallway when they said goodnight to everyone. Yugi, on the other hand, was confused that Yami didn't show him where he would be staying. "Uh, Yami?" Yami replied, "Yes, Yugi?"

"Where's, my bedroom? Do I not get somewhere to sleep?" Yami paused, but then did a hearty laugh as he was holding Yugi by the torso again. Yugi felt vulnerable again from Yami's peculiar behavior, and didn't like Yami putting his arms all over him. Yami was walking with Yugi through the hallway to the master bedroom. Yami stopped laughing and replied, "Yugi, of course you'll get somewhere to sleep, but you'll be in the same room as me."

A sweat drop went down Yugi's forehead. "In... the same room as you? Why?" "Well, to make sure that you're safe. I can't allow anything to happen to you; you need to be in the best condition for your coronation, so you'll stay with me. Understand?" Yugi, even though he didn't want to, agreed to what Yami was saying. "Yes, Yami."

They reached the master bed room and Yami opened the doors. "Look at it Yugi, the master bedroom in all its glory and wealth." "Wooaahh! It's huge!"

Indeed, the room was 5 times the size an average bedroom. The master bedroom was decorated in gold, with real gold furniture and accessories. Golden chandeliers hanged from the ceiling, which was made of pure marble. There was a double bed at the very end of the room, and a single bed at the left corner of the room. "See the single bed to the left? That's yours, Yugi."

Yugi made a fast dash to his bed and jumped on it. He was jumping on it, like a child who just got a new toy. "Hahaha, thanks Yami! I'm totally staying here!" Yugi was laughing, having way too much fun jumping on his bed, which amused Yami.

"You have fun with that. If you need me, I'll be in the throne room." Yami gently closed the door before walking out. He chuckled, smirking because his plan went perfectly, then began walking to the throne room.


	14. A Shattered World

When Yami reached the throne room the first thing he did was shut all the doors and lock them. He hurried to his throne, right before the clock struck 10 pm. Just then, out of the black shadows, came the Pharisees. Yami was sitting with one hand on his head, elbow on the throne arm, and left leg crossed over the other.

"It's about time you showed up.", grumbled Yami. "I have a concern with the way I've been treating my vessel, and I need to know if the way I'm treating him is normal."

Alairn calmly replied, "Well, tell us, and we'll explain." Yami sighed, and then explained, "I've been having this strange want of holding or hugging my vessel. Why is this? Why do I want to hold him?" Alairn knew the answer right away, but first talked with the other Pharisees.

Alairn then stopped talking with the other Pharisees and turned to Yami. "Well, where exactly are you holding him? The head, shoulder, face, waist, or somewhere else? Depending on where you hold him, is how you view him as your vessel." Yami looked surprised. He had no idea making a contract with the Pharisees could affect how he views Yugi. "Well, I like to hold him at the...torso?" Alarin looked rather surprised, and then discussed the issue with the other Pharisees.

Yami heard them whisper to each other, "The torso? What a strange place to hold a vessel." and "...to think he would view his vessel in such a way. How surprising!" Yami was irritated by their commentary, so he shouted, "Just tell me already! I need to know!" They all jumped up from hearing Yami shout, and Alairn proceeded towards Yami.

"Your honor, what we tell you is the truth, so please, don't be alarmed." Yami let him explain.

"When you hold your vessel by the head, it means you view him as your slave. When you grip your vessel's shoulders, it means you are trying to put him down, make him feel weak. When you touch his face, it shows that you want him to accept you as his master."

Yami felt sick at the last one, and he was glad he wasn't touching Yugi's face. "Do you want me to continue?" asked Alairn. "Go on." answered Yami. "Well, when you touch your vessel at the waist, it shows that you still want to be his friend, even after you've taken over his body." "And...at the torso?"

"Well... it means you desire him as your vessel more than anything else. This also means you see him as your perfect vessel. It's a little strange, but it's true. So, you see Yugi as your perfect vessel, and you desire for him to be your vessel."

Yami felt as though his world had been shattered; fallen apart, and broken.


	15. The Care of Friends

Yami didn't want to believe it, so he ran out of the throne room and slammed both doors shut behind him. Alairn, pleased to see Yami upset, smirked with contempt.

"Good idea, my fellow Pharisees; to switch the meaning of touching the vessel's torso with touching the vessel's waist. It was absolutely perfect to see Yami broken like that. And, he actually believed it. It's no wonder we found him at The Graves of Great Fools, he's a foolish being." They were all laughing into the darkness, retreating to where they belong- in the shadows.

When Yami reached his master bedroom, he slammed open the doors and ran over to Yugi, who was asleep. *Dang it! He's asleep! I'll have to wait for the morning to come.* Yami, feeling distressed and tired, fell on his bed to rest.

"Do I, really want Yugi's body that bad? All I want is Egypt restored- nothing else will benefit me from using Yugi's body- nothing!" Or so he thought. And so, with nothing else to think about, Yami simply fell asleep.

In the morning...

When Yami woke up, Yugi was already awake, talking to his friends in the throne room. Rubbing his eyes, Yami sat up and stretched in bed.

"It's morning, so it's time to see how Yugi and his friends are doing." He got out of bed, put on his robe, and walked out to the throne room. Yami noticed how quietly they were talking, so he began to spy on their conversation.

"Please guys, I know it's hard to handle, but your parents think you're at my house. I'm going to call my Grandpa and tell him what's happening. He'll understand, and maybe he can come over here somehow."

They all looked at each other, and then Joey stepped up and firmly said, "I'll stay Yugh. I won't abandon you- never! I'll make sure you're safe, and that Yami won't hurt or touch you anymore!"

Tea spoke up as well, saying "Yeah! He just can't invade your space like that, even if you're going to become his right hand Pharaoh!"

Tristen shouted, "We'll back up Yugi and protect him no matter what happens!" Yugi, for once in a long time, felt happy. "Thanks guys. It really means a lot to me."

"And me as well." Yami exclaimed.

Everyone glanced over to the throne, where Yami was sitting, one leg over the other. Yami's expression was friendly, but showed a micro expression of sadness on his eyebrows. "Yugi, you know what day it is today, right?"

Yugi thought on it, and then replied, "Today is my coronation, as well as yours."

"Correct. The coronation will start at 5:00 pm. It's 10 in the morning. Your servants need to get you all dressed up right after breakfast."

And so, after breakfast, Yami and Yugi were all dressed up in their Pharaoh clothing, even wearing Egyptian Pharaoh makeup. Yugi did mind the makeup; he was just too shy to say anything.


	16. Sababah Akhenaten

At 4:50 p.m...

Yami, Yugi, and Yugi's friends were all in the throne room, with Yami and Yugi on the thrones. Yugi felt a little embarrassed to be dressed in such a manner. "Hey, uh, guys, do I look funny wearing this?" They were all sitting down at a table in the throne room, when Joey said, "Well, you sure look fancy." Tea added, "And wealthy."

Yugi blushed, until Yami said, "You look like a perfect little Pharaoh." Yugi glanced at Yami with an innocent expression, which caused Yami to look away.

Two guards came up to Yami and, while bowing, said, "Sir, there are guests for Pharaoh Yugi." "Guests? For Yugi? Well, bring them in, I wish to see them." So the guards brought in 3 men, who were Grandpa, Yugi's father,and someone else. When Yugi noticed his Grandpa and dad were here, he hopped off his throne and ran towards them.

"Grandpa! Dad!" shouted Yugi happily as he whopped himself on both of them. "Whoa, Yugi! Calm down!" said Yugi's dad. After Yugi composed himself and got off of both of them, he asked them, "Um, Grandpa, Dad, who's this?"

Yugi pointed to the other young man that was with Grandpa and Yugi's dad. "Ahh," exclaimed Grandpa. "This man, Yugi, is your bodyguard." "Bodyguard?" Yugi looked a little confused, and Yami's expression became serious when he saw the bodyguard.

Grandpa continued, saying "Yes, he is your bodyguard, and he is here to teach you how to be a proper young Pharaoh. He will also teach you other important things, but he will discuss that with you later." Yugi's bodyguard walked over to Yugi and had his hand out for a handshake.

"Akhenaten. Sababah Akhenaten. I look forward to guarding you, Yugi." Yugi blinked twice, and then smiled as he shook Sababah's hand. "Nice to meet you." Yugi, for some odd reason, couldn't stop looking away from Sababah's eyes. The sound of church bells ringing, and a heavenly choir softly played in Yugi's ears, as he slowly let go of Sababah's hand. Yugi blinked twice again, and then waved to them as he walked back to his throne.


	17. Decisions

Yami, even though he didn't understand the connection Yugi and Sababah made, he didn't like it. Yami spoke out to everyone and said, "The coronation will start in 5 minutes. It will be in the throne room, but only Yugi and I will be in here. No one else will, so instead,"

Yami pointed to a large room with see-through glass walls, "you all will stay in that room and watch from there." Once everyone and the other citizens that would be watching the coronation were in the room, the lights dimmed.

"Huh? Why did it get dim all of a sudden?" pondered Joey.

"I'm not sure, Joey, but it must be for a good reason." answered Bakura. Just then, they all heard through large speakers that were attached to the wall, "Good evening, my citizens! Thank you, for coming to see my coronation of synchronizing with Yugi Moto!" Joey and the others gasped, all saying "Synchronizing with Yugi!?"

Yugi was shocked by what Yami said, but was too scared to say anything.

Yami continued, "The synchronization will be a quick process, where I will take over Yugi's body in an instant. But, it's up to Yugi if he wants this or not. So, Yugi..." He turned to Yugi who was standing a little far in front of him.

"...do you accept the offer of being my vessel? Remember, if you do agree, there's no turning back. You will be able to do nothing accept think inside your own mind, and you will stay like that for 3 years."

Yugi was scared, and was trembling upon the thought of being able to do nothing at all for 3 years.

Joey was banging on the glass wall, screaming "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO YUGI! I WON'T LET YOU!" Tristen was also banging on the wall, yelling, "Yugi! Don't do it! DON'T DO IT!" What Joey and Tristen didn't know was that the glass walls were sound-proof. Tea noticed that, and then pulled both of them away from the wall.

"Guys, he can't hear you, the walls are sound-proof!" shouted Tea at them. Joey and Tristen, who realized they couldn't do anything, lost hope of helping Yugi.

"Man, Yugi's out there being pressured by Yami, and we can't do a thing about it!" moaned Joey. Bakura helped Joey and Tristen up, saying to them, "Remember guys, this is Yugi's decision; no one is pressuring him about this. Whatever decision he makes, right or wrong, we have to accept and move on."

They both understood what Bakura was saying, and then continued watching Yugi make his decision.


	18. Be My Vessel

*This is it, the final decision. Oh, how I want Yugi to say no, yet I want him to say yes! It's unbearable, but a decision must be made.* thought Yami to himself. *I've gone this far with my plans, and I can't turn back now. I must persuade him through thoughts, so no one will know.*

Even though Yugi realized what he was doing, he didn't turn away from the situation. Yugi said as he was slowly walking to Yami, "Do I really want this?"

*Yes you do.*

"Is this good for me?"

*Yes it is.*

Yugi felt as though the world around him was beginning to blur, with only Yami being clear in sight. A glass like, distorted, dark Yami with a genuine smile appeared before Yugi, a contrasted white glow around him. Yugi was the only one that could see this aura around Yami, no one else could."Yami, will you...treat my body well?"

*Yes I will, my vessel.* Studying hard on Yugi and Yami's body movements and expression, Joey noticed Yami's looked rather caring to Yugi. Yugi, on the other hand, seemed to be thinking hard on his decision.

Grandpa and Yugi's dad were the most isolated from everyone, yet looked the most worried. Joey contemplated whether Yugi wanted Yami to control him, or turn away and leave Yami to his own problems.

"Tea, what if Yugi regrets the decision he makes? What happens then? How can we help Yugi!?"

Tea let out a hard sigh, hands folded together. She glanced at Joey, and then continued watching Yugi get closer to Yami as she said, "Just as Bakura said, whatever decision Yugi makes, we have to accept and move on. As for what Yami intends to do with us after they synchronize, well, that's beyond what I can imagine."

Joey crossed his arms and they all continued watching Yugi walking towards Yami, a cold silence filling the room.

*Think about it Yugi. You and I will be working together to protect and raise Egypt back again to its feet. I can't do this without you, Yugi. I...need...you.*

Yugi felt Yami's honesty, and then said to Yami, "You seem to be telling the truth, Yami. The thing is how do I know if you'll go back on your word? What if you change, and become something much darker?"

Yami let out a small laugh, reassuring Yugi with a calm voice and expression. "Yugi, you already know if I will change, and you already know I'll keep my word." Yami now had open arms to Yugi, a deceptive smile dancing at the corners of his mouth. "You know this, because you are my other half, the other part of me that I can't live without. It will be perfect harmony- you and I synchronized, harmonized together as one. You, Yugi, are the only person in this world that truly understands who I am. Please Yugi..." With Yugi only 3 feet away from Yami, Yami gracefully stretched his hand out to him.

"...be...my...vessel." Whispered Yami to Yugi.

Yugi was held by Yami's gaze for three seconds, taking in the last moment of his life as himself, then took Yami's hand and answered, "Yami, I accept to being your vessel." Yami's eyes widened the instant Yugi took his hand, and a dark, eerie sound entered and corrupted the palace.

Even though all of Yugi's friends, family, and the guards were horrified by the sound, the citizens that were watching seemed to show no fear. The news cameras that were secretly set up before hand by Yami didn't pick up the eerie sound.

Just then, Yami and Yugi were glowing brightly, a dark purple aura hovering around them slowly. Yami, while fading away, faded into Yugi. Yugi seemed to be shocked when the synchronization completed, then abruptly collapsed on all fours.

Then, all fell silent.

Tea, who was horrified, turned and shouted to everyone, "Yami...is controlling Yugi's body now! And now..."

When she looked back at Yugi, he was slowly lifting his head up, staring straight into her eyes. Oddly enough, he smiled at her, but the smile didn't feel like Yugi's smile.

"... Yugi can't control his body. We can't change Yugi now!"


	19. Tied Hands

The doors opened and the glass walls became regular walls now, which allowed everyone to exit the room. Yugi, or Yami, shouted to everyone, "Behold! It is I, Yami-Yugi! I am the fusion of who I once was, Yami, and who was once just my soon-to-be vessel, Yugi. Believe it or not, my people, it is me, Yami, who is controlling this young body. So, my age and appearance satisfies you all, correct?"

The citizens were talking to each other, and all seemed to have agreed on the same answer.

One man, the same that spoke up to Yami during his speech, said, "Yes, this new appearance and age of yours is wonderful my Pharaoh. We hope to see this new appearance of yours more often in public."

Yami-Yugi smirked, and then waved to his audience as he shouted, "Now go home! I will have you all escorted home safe and sound."

The citizens left, leaving only Yami-Yugi, Yugi's friends, family, and the guards in the throne room. Silence filled the room, as Yami-Yugi was admiring his new body in front of the grand mirror next to his throne. "I never noticed how small Yugi was, or, how small I am. Now I see what they meant by..."

Yami-Yugi now was using his fingers for quotations, "...show your new appearance more often in public." He was chuckling rather deviously, even though it was in Yugi's voice, as he hopped on his throne, breathing in to speak.

"As I said before, Joey, Tristen, Bakura, and Tea, will all be helping the citizens and making sure their households are well kept."

"You...ARE DARE YOU DO THIS TO YUGH!? I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY!" Joey screamed at Yami-Yugi as he was running towards him, ready to tackle him. Yami-Yugi was simply sitting there, waiting for Joey to realize his fate. Right before Joey was about to tackle Yami-Yugi, Sababah teleported in his way, grabbing Joey by the wrists.

"You will not harm my Pharaoh, Joey Wheeler." Joey, who tried to put up a fight, failed to and resorted to screaming again.

"You will pay, Yami- I swear it! Whether it's by my hands, or someone else's, you WILL PAY!" Yami-Yugi simply rolled his eyes, feeling agitated by Joey's behavior.

"Bodyguard! Take him to the prison, he will be held hostage there."


	20. The Escape - Seto Kaiba?

Tea, who seemed to be the only one with sense or reasoning, said to Yami-Yugi "Yugi, I know you can hear me, so please! Tell Yami to set Joey free, to set us all free from this wretched place! If we can't get Joey some help before he gets out of hand..."

She noticed that Yami was completely ignoring her.

She felt as though no one was listening to her, so she lost her cool and shouted, "HEY! I'M TALKING!" This threw everyone off, including Sababah, who lost grip of Joey. Joey simply collapsed to the floor in front of Sababah, who seemed rather focused on Yami-Yugi.

Tea shouted at Yami-Yugi, "How could you have done this to Yugi!? He trusted you- you of all people, betrayed him! You're not a Pharaoh, you're just a sick-minded body thief that wants to relive the glory days of his past! Egypt is in this mess, because YOU failed to be a good Pharaoh in the FIRST PLACE!"

Sababah gasped when he heard Tea say that, and immediately resided again next to Yami-Yugi. A look of worry stayed on Sababah's face, as he whispered to Yami-Yugi, "My Pharaoh, whatever decision you make, I only ask that you forgive and spare the girl. I see great power and love from her, even though her behavior says otherwise."

Not a single word. Yami-Yugi simply nodded his head in agreement, sitting with his hands folded, elbows resting on the throne armrests.

Bakura's spirit, who was astonished by it all, quietly whispered to himself, "My word, this girl, though foolish, really believes that Yami will listen to her. She's got guts to shout at the Pharaoh like that."

He was now glancing at Yami-Yugi, who seemed very disturbed by Tea's behavior.

"As for Yami, I didn't think he would strip Yugi away from all his freedom. Even I let my vessel have some freedom, but Yami, Yami isn't giving Yugi any freedom at all!"

Although Yami-Yugi's gripped hands showed abhorrence, a micro expression of pain showed on his face as he yelled, "Guards! Take ALL of them, to prison! Now!"

Just then, as guards were running after them, Tristen yelled, "Run! To the front yard outside the palace!"

The only ones that could run away in time were Tristen, Bakura, and Yugi's dad. Tea, Joey, and Grandpa, were all captured by Yami-Yugi's guards.

When Tristen noticed Tea, Joey, and Grandpa weren't behind them, he shouted to Bakura, "Bakura, try to find us a way out while I go get the others!"

"I'm on it!" shouted Bakura.

When Tristen made it back to the palace's front doors, he saw the guards close the doors on him, and the guards had Joey, Tea and Grandpa.

"Dang it!" yelled Tristen as he banged his hand on the doors.

Sliding to the floor in hopelessness, he screamed, "Yami! Let's my friends go!"

Tristen was in such a pathetic state, but he shook it off and stood up. He looked down in guilt for not making it in time.

"If I can't get to them, I guess I have no other choice but to leave them behind. Tea, Joey, Mr. Moto... I'm sorry."


	21. Undercover

Tristen ran back to Bakura, and noticed Bakura was shaking hands with Seto Kiaba. "Huh? Seto? How did he get here?"

When Tristen was right there with Bakura and Tristen, he asked Seto, "Seto, how did you get here?"

Seto glanced at Tristen, then roughly answered, "By helicopter, and I'm taking you guys home." Tristen was about to say something, but decided not to and simply entered Seto's provided transportation.

Once everyone else got in, Bakura was at the edge of the seats for the helicopter, and he was right next to the sliding door. When the helicopter was around 30 feet in the air, Bakura opened the sliding door and jumped out. Tristen and Grandpa gasped, but were shocked to see Bakura unharmed from the fall.

When Bakura reached the ground, he looked back up at the helicopter and made eye-contact with Seto. They both nodded their heads in approval, and Bakura turned to the palace and ran to the front doors.

Bakura looked around his surroundings, making sure no one see what he was going to do. "Alright, the coast is clear. Dark spirit, do your thing." Just then, Bakura's eyes were glowing for a split second, and Bakura's eyes appeared to be hurt, but actually weren't. He was screaming due to his "pain", but he screamed loud enough for Yami-Yugi to hear from his throne room. "Aaarrgh, help me please!"

Yami-Yugi, who had just sat on his throne and got finished seeing his prisoners get chained up, heard a faint scream for help from outside.

"What? Who's outside screaming for help?" He ran out to the main hallway, then to the front room, and busted open the front doors. Yami-Yugi was astonished to see Bakura in pain all curled up on the floor, covering his supposedly wounded eye.

"Bakura? My goodness- guards take him to the palace hospital right now!"

The helicopter by then had been miles away from the palace, leaving Seto to explain why Bakura jumped out of the helicopter. When Tristen and Yugi's father heard why Bakura had jumped out, they seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"So, Bakura is going to find a way to separate Yami and Yugi?" asked Tristen to Seto.

"That's right," answered Seto. "and once Yami and Yugi are separated, I will be able to challenge Yugi to a final rematch! But this time, it will be Yugi dueling me, not Yami."

Tristen crossed his arms, and then moaned, "Wow, Seto, you're still holding on to that? Well, as long as Yugi and Yami are separated, that's all I care about."

Seto looked away, answering, "Bakura will become Yami's right hand slave, then see what type of persuasion effects Yami; physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. One of these will slowly separate Yami and Yugi, so all we have to do is wait until Bakura contacts me."


	22. Unchained and Unharmed

At the palace's hospital...

"So, you want to be my right-hand slave?" questioned Yami-Yugi to Bakura.

Now sitting up from his hospital bed, he calmly answered, "Yes, and I hope that I will serve you well."

Yami-Yugi sighed, and then quickly said, "Well, I don't want to see you as my slave, but rather as my servant. You will be treated well and fairly."

Bakura simply nodded his head, calmly saying, "Whatever you desire to call me, I will accept." Yami-Yugi rolled his eyes, and then elbowed him playfully. "Hey! That hurt!" moaned Bakura.

They both were laughing as Yami-Yugi said while walking to the room door, "Well, my servant, you go ahead and rest. When you feel better, I want you to change into your servant clothing, which is on your bed in your bedroom. I'll see you at dinner." So then Yami-Yugi walked out, and headed to where Tea, Joey, and Grandpa were being held.

The place where Tea, Joey, and Grandpa were being held was a surprisingly nice place, in what seemed a bed room with prisoner furniture. Of course they were all chained against the wall, but weren't chained in a too uncomfortable manner. Yami-Yugi opened the door to their prisoner room, closing it shut behind him, as well as locking the door. Tea immediately lifted her head when she heard Yami-Yugi lock the door, wondering if he was going to let them go.

"Yugi, is...is that you?" questioned Tea to Yami-Yugi, who, looked rather serious at her. He simply lifted his right arm, pointing at her, and then yelled, "Guards! Tea is staying, but let Joey Wheeler and Mr. Moto set free!" Tea gasped, but didn't even notice Joey had his head down the whole time, and so was Grandpa's.

The guards set Joey and Grandpa free, escorting them to the front doors, and took them home. Yami-Yugi unchained Tea, but she couldn't get out because the door was locked, by voice command.

"Wait, are you letting me go?"

"No, I am not Tea. You are staying with me, because you are the only one who will understand without causing an upheaval." She definitely wasn't happy, but she wasn't upset either.

"Look Tea I know this is agitating for you, but you have to understand the reason why I'm keeping you here." She seemed open to listen.


	23. Pained Hearts

"Tea, the reason I'm keeping you here is because the others by now, have tight feelings of angst towards me- they won't be able to listen to reason." She looked astonished; it was hard for her to believe Yugi had agreed to let Yami control him.

"Who am I talking to, Yugi, or Yami?"

A sorrowful expression appeared on Yami-Yugi's face, as he answered, "Yami. Tea, I won't keep you locked up in here, I swear it. You will be treated with care, love, and equality. You will have your own room, and will be able to visit any part of the palace, except the throne room and my bedroom. Of course, if you ask me if you want to enter the throne room or my quarters, you will be allowed. I've already contacted your parents, and they know where you are. So please, don't be so sorrowful about staying here."

Tea seemed okay about everything, then, which surprised Yami-Yugi, gave him a friendly hug. "Yami, I'm sorry I screamed at you like that earlier; I do care for you."

Blushing, Yami-Yugi accepted the hug, and then said to her, "I forgive you Tea, and I'm happy to know that you care." Expecting for her to say something, he was surprised to see her let go so quickly.

She had a confused face, and then said to him, "Yami-Yugi, when you said that, it was in your own voice, not Yugi's! Yami, it was in your voice!" A confused yet shocked expression appeared on Yami-Yugi's face, as he turned away from her, hands behind his back.

"Tea, I need to be alone; I need to think things through. I'm going; the guards will show you your room." He immediately walked out the moment he was finished talking, leaving Tea with the guards.

When Yami-Yugi walked out, he didn't even notice Bakura was next to the door, spying on him and Tea. Tea also didn't see Bakura when the guards escorted her to her quarters. When Bakura made sure no one else was around, he tapped a button on his wristwatch communicator.

"Seto Kiaba, I believe I found out what triggers Yami and Yugi to separate."

*Huh? Bakura, you know what will separate Yami from Yugi?*

"Yes, it's when Yami feels care or love towards Tea."

*What!? That's insane! Are you sure about this Bakura?*

Bakura was sneaking back to his bedroom, and locked the door behind him. He got settled into bed, then said rather quietly, "Yes, and this is why. I was just spying on Yami-Yugi and Tea; Tea apologized to Yami-Yugi, and gave him a friendly hug. When Yami-Yugi spoke, he was speaking in his own voice, in Yami's voice- not Yugi's!"

*That's...that's strange. Why would something as stupid as that, separate him from Yugi? Well, good work Bakura for finding that out right away. In the morning, I want you to keep tabs on how Yami-Yugi and Tea interact with each other. I predict that Tea will want to talk to Yami-Yugi, since she won't really have anyone else to talk to. Also, keep an eye on how Yami and Yugi interact with each other, that is, if they can.*

"Yeah, I will don't you worry. Until I find out more information, I'll talk to you later."

*Later.* Bakura hung up the call, and that was that.

Later that afternoon at Joey's house...

Joey, Tristen and Yugi's dad were all talking to each other about how they view what's been happening to Yami-Yugi. All sitting together in the living room, Tristen seems worried, but definitely not as much as Joey. Yugi's father seemed more frightened than worried about his son.

The air in the room felt tense, which made Tristen uncomfortable to say, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I've got a bad feeling about the future, but specifically, Yami's future. I see, hard times for him in the future, struggles."

There was a pause, and then Joey began to slowly say, "You're right Tristen, complications are ahead of us, and we can't do much about it." Joey glanced at Yugi's father, who seemed as though he just needed to relax; take a breather from it all.

"Excuse me, but I need to get some water." quickly said Yugi's dad, so he went to the kitchen and got a glass of water. Tristen was thinking about Tea, then said rather loud, "Hey, shouldn't we somehow contact Tea? Why is Yami keeping her at his palace?"

Joey thought on it, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know Tristen, but knowing Yami he won't treat her badly. I just wish we could see how she's doin, y'know?" Now yawning, Tristen nodded his head in agreement. Tristen glanced at the large living room window, focusing on the hard snow that was outside. Yugi's dad returned to the living room then was standing in front of both of them. He felt the need to express what he was feeling to them, so he did.

"Joey, Tristen, I've known you two for as long as I can remember. Whatever may happen to my son or Tea, I know I can count on you boys to be there to help them. Even if you're not with them right now, you are with them in spirit and friendship."

The slightest bit of sorrow appeared on Yugi's dads face. "As Yugi's father it's my responsibility to keep Yugi safe from harm, yet I failed to keep him safe from Yami. What makes matters worse is that I had no idea he even had the millennium puzzle, more or less a spirit around him while I was on my business trip. I didn't say really much of anything at the palace because I was too frightened and didn't know how I could help my son." He bit his lip and his eyes were tightly shut as he turned away from Joey and Tristen.

They both looked at each other rather solemnly, and then Joey stood up and said to Yugi's dad, "Mr. Moto, it's not your fault that you couldn't do anything. We all wanted to help Yugi, but we couldn't because Yami practically trapped us, only letting us see the coronation. We couldn't even hear what they were talkin' about and same vice versa." Mr. Moto turned to Joey, feeling somewhat better from his empathetic words.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. By the way, I'll be heading home now. My dad is at home resting, so I'll just be taking care of him and getting my at home job stuff done." He walked to the front door, grabbed his briefcase and hat, and walked out the front door, shutting it roughly.

An odd silence was between Joey and Tristen; neither of them really knew what to do about Yugi, or Tea. The only thing they did know is that long, hard times are ahead of them. As of what mental state Yugi will be in the next time they see him, that's far beyond what they can expect.


	24. Tea's Concerns

A couple days later at the palace in Tea's room...

Tea was trying the best she could to adapt to her new surroundings. She wasn't particularly used to living in a huge palace, and it took her five tries just to get from the front entrance back to her bedroom. However, she wasn't sad or regretful of staying at the palace. In fact, she felt safe; secure living with Yami-Yugi. If anything, she would rather be staying with Yami-Yugi than anyone else in the country; who knows what type of people would truly take care of her, or truly break her? That morning while eating breakfast with Yami-Yugi, Sababah and Bakura in the grand dining room, she gathered the courage to speak to Yami-Yugi.

"Um, Yami-Yugi?" she quietly asked. He was rather bored, and was chewing thoughtfully on something; he didn't hear her, so Sababah lightly nudged him and his eyes pointed to Tea.

"Ah, Tea, you said something?" "Um, yes I have some things to say. I..." She felt like as if her lungs were beginning to lose air, but she gained her strength back.

"...I want you to know how I feel about staying with you."

Yami-Yugi's eye lit up with surprise, and was now making eye contact with her. She set her fork down and continued.

"I'm not angry or upset or anything about being here, I'm just trying to get used to living here and being away from my other friends, and family. So, I know that you've been busy and all, but can we, you know, spend some time with each other?"

He blinked twice, feeling as if he's been too busy to even have a normal conversation with her. After all, he has a whole country to fix in only three years.

"Why, of course. Why wouldn't we? If we didn't I'd basically be keeping you hostage." Tea then twitched as a tear drop appeared on her head. "Ah, alright-but when you put it that way..."

Yami then twitched and looked up, "Oh! I meant no discrimination-Tea!" An awkward silence was between both of them, then they both started laughing. Tea felt a bit better and now wanted to really start talking to Yami-Yugi. "Well, for starters, what do you plan on doing to restore Egypt? If there's anything I can do to help, I would be glad to help."

All positive feelings faded from his face, becoming more serious and monotone in expression. Yami-Yugi glanced at Sababah and Sababah nodded his head and walked out to the throne room. Bakura, who was quiet the whole time, was taking mental notes on how Yami-Yugi and Tea interacted with each other. Yami-Yugi stood up from his dining chair and crossed his arms.

He said in a rather flat tone to her, "There is nothing you can do. I did not keep you with me for you to work, Tea. If anything, I want you to relax and feel at home as much as possible."

This is where two guards pick him up and place him on the royal lounge chair that Sababah brought from the throne room. The guards and others were holding the royal lounge chair up, Yami-Yugi holding his head with his elbow against the slanted up pillow.

"Tea, I'm going to my throne room to do my work. Because I don't want you to be alone, Bakura will stay with you for the rest of the day until I have some leisure time to talk with you. Until then, have a good day."

Tea looked rather disappointed, but decided not to say anything; the last thing she wanted was to get on Yami-Yugi's bad side. And so once Yami-Yugi and Sababah were in the throne room, Bakura called out to Tea, "Hey Tea, would you like me to show you the grand garden? It's quite lovely."

Tea felt lightened from Bakura's kindness, so she stood up from her chair and replied, "Sure Bakura, sounds like fun."


	25. Bitter Feelings

A feeling of confusion filled Yami-Yugi; he wasn't sure if he felt bad for treating Tea the way he did before leaving the grand dining room, or if he felt nothing. Once he reached his throne, two guards picked him up and placed him on the throne. Sababah resided next to him, smiling.

"So my servants, have the police secured the palace?"

"They have, Pharaoh. The people have stopped the protests and are returning home."

"Excellent. I want the latest architecture plans for the best homes in Egypt. Everyone's homes will be rebuilt; everyone will be treated with care and equality. Please my servants, tell the high officials to make everyone's homes are secure. Also, tell them to give food, supplies and insurance to everyone. I want each and every household to be as such, understand?"

"Yes, right away my Pharaoh."

They both saluted, and walked out of the throne room, leaving only Yami-Yugi and Sababah left in the room.

"Sababah, may I ask you something?" said Yami-Yugi, a look of worry on his face.

"Yes you may, my pharaoh."

"Back in the grand dining room during breakfast, I was talking to Tea. When she asked me what plans I have to restore Egypt, I became very serious and felt...bitter. Do you think I hurt her feelings? Why was I being bitter to her?"

Sababah seemed surprised, but, only for a split second, his eyes showed that he knew anyways.

"Well, she seemed disappointed, but not necessarily hurt. You may have been bitter to her because, you feel bitter about restoring Egypt. If you noticed, before she brought up the topic of restoring Egypt, you were happy and light-hearted. So, you probably don't like talking about restoring Egypt with her."

Astonished and mouth agape, Yami-Yugi felt as though Sababah had completely read his feelings. He looked away from Sababah, unable to look anymore into his caring eyes. Sababah simply smiled then said, "Cheer up my Pharaoh; I'm sure she'll be happy to talk to you later. Besides, I think she likes you."

Yami-Yugi twitched and was about to say something when the two guards returned and said, "Pharaoh, we have returned with the architecture plans for you to work on." They were holding the blueprints out to him, and were surprised to see him snatch it from them.

"Thank you." He said roughly. "Now leave me to my work."

They both looked rather surprised, but did as they were ordered and left him to his work. Sababah noticed that; he was now slightly worried as he said under his breath, "It's happening too fast. There must be a way to keep him calm. Perhaps I should play for him later?" Yami was reading intently on the blueprints, until Sababah said to him, "Excuse me my Pharaoh, but may I play some music for you when you have some free time?"

Yami-Yugi raised an eyebrow. "Play? What instrument do you play?"

"I know how to play the harp, sir."

"Hmm, yes that sounds good. Later though; I am very busy." Yami-Yugi felt even bitterer than before, but for some odd reason he felt pain from treating Sababah the way he did. Worry showed on Sababah's face, now looking away from Yami-Yugi.

"Of course, my Pharaoh."


	26. The First Feelings

The grand garden was indeed grand, perfumed with the fragrance of fresh flowers and bushes. Tea noted how lovely the smell was and couldn't help but be awed at the breathtaking sight before her. In the middle of the garden was a round plaza. In the middle of that plaza was a golden fountain; it was decorated with jewels and Arabic inscriptions carved into it. At the top of the fountain was a plaque that had writing on it, but in Arabic.

"Ah, I wonder what this says Tea."

She concentrated hard on the writing but gave up after a good half minute. She giggled and pointed cutely at the plaque.

"Nope, no clue as to what is may say. Maybe Yami-Yugi knows. He knows how to speak Arabic; maybe he can read Arabic too?" Bakura nodded his head in agreement.

"Perhaps. If anything, would you like to see the rest of the garden?" She couldn't help but smile at Bakura's kindness.

"Sure, let's go."

When they reached the larger end of the garden, they were amazed by yet another breathtaking beauty. There, right before them, was a painting mended on to a marble wall with flowers and vines cascading over it. The painting was of a man, who seemed to be a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and a woman dressed in a lovely white sheer dress. They were holding hands and kissing, the sunset behind them. It was glowing its bright light upon them. The Pharaoh's face was hidden from the bright light, but the woman's was not. She was wearing golden eye shadow, thick winged out eyeliner, and a natural blush. She had short brown hair and blue eyes.

"Wow, it's beautiful..." Whispered Tea. Bakura was silent; taking in the beauty he turned to Tea.

"Hey Tea, doesn't that woman kinda look like you?" She blinked; surprise gleamed in her eyes.

"Yeah, she does kinda look like me! How strange. Who painted this? When was it painted?" Bakura put his hand on his chin, thinking hard.

"Hmm, I'm not sure, but I what I am sure of is that Yami-Yugi will know the answers to our questions. You should ask him when he has some free time." She seemed a little impatient, but let it go and sighed.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Bakura, thanks for keeping me company; it means a lot to me." She gave him a warm smile, which made Bakura fluster and put his hands behind his back.

"Oh no, I was just doing was I was told to do. Even if I wasn't ordered to keep you company, I would have anyways." They both laughed.

"Yeah, I know."

He began walking with her down a long trail that had bushes on each side.

*You idiot! You're supposed to be finding out if she likes the Pharaoh!* yelled Bakura's spirit in his mind. That threw Bakura off, as he immediately stopped and twinged; a goofy expression popped on his face. Tea kept on walking and didn't notice Bakura had stopped.

"Well, not right now! I'm busy!"

*What!? No, no, no! Ask her immediately! We have to push her to love the Pharaoh so Yami and Yugi can separate faster! Once they separate, we can take Yugi's Millennium Puzzle!* Bakura crossed his arms, then mumbled "Fine!"

"Um, Bakura, who are you talking to?" Bakura twitched, then slowly looked at Tea, embarrassed and blushing.

"Uhhh...no one?" He said, more like a question than a response. She giggled, then started laughing and pulled Bakura by the arm.

"Haha, Bakura you're so weird!" His face was radiant; he had embarrassed blush all over his cheeks. "Uh yeah, I guess so."

After cooling off from the laughter, Bakura's tone became slightly serious. He had his hands behind his back; looking around cautiously every now and then.

"Tea, I've been thinking about something."

"Hm? What is it?"

He was now making eye contact with her. "I was thinking about how Yami and Yugi are synchronized, and that they are practically one. You tend to talk to Yami-Yugi, like if he were Yami. Do you...do you like Yami? How do you feel about him?"

Tea stopped walking. She thought on it rather calmly.

"I like Yami as a friend, and I feel as though I can trust him. Besides that, I know that when I talk to him I'm talking to Yami, but it feels like I'm talking to Yugi. Maybe I feel that way because Yami is using Yugi's body." She yawned, stretching and walking back to the palace. "Later Bakura. I'm going back to my room; gonna take a nap."

He looked a little dumbfounded. "Uh, bye!" He blurted, waving bye. When she entered the palace, he mumbled to his spirit. "Well, there you go. I guess she's not entirely in love with him yet. We'll just have to wait."

*Yes, we'll just have to wait.*


	27. Love Sparks Bright

It was late at night. Tea, Bakura and Yami-Yugi's day went like this: Tea overslept and ate dinner alone in her bedroom. Bakura did some orders and ate in his bedroom alone as well. Yami-Yugi was furious with rage; various country leaders that surrounded Egypt were threatening to destroy his land unless he paid them extra tax money.

The way he solved this problem proved to be odd but logical: by a duel. Yami-Yugi dueled each of the leaders, and Yami-Yugi was victorious in each duel. Because he won, he didn't have to pay the extra taxes and they called off the threat. Overall, Yami-Yugi was the most stressed out and tired; he ate some food but not like a meal.

Sitting on his throne, Yami-Yugi was yet again alone in his throne room with Sababah. He had a thumping headache, which made him very irritated; he sat with his knuckles pressed against his temples.

"Sababah, are you still open to playing the harp for me?" mumbled Yami-Yugi.

"But of course, my Pharaoh. Would you like me to play a relaxing song?"

"Please."

Sababah walked to the back room, where instruments of all kinds were stored. While Sababah was getting the harp, a servant walked in and saluted to Yami-Yugi.

"Pharaoh, Tea wishes to come in and talk to you." Yami-Yugi sighed out of relief just from hearing Tea's name; he knows that Tea will brighten his mood.

"Ah, Tea; Yes, please let her in." The servant saluted, then walked to the throne room's front doors and opened them for Tea.

She walked in and gave a small bow to Yami-Yugi. "Hi Yami-Yugi. How's your day been?"

He frowned. "Tea, come here and sit on the throne next to me. I wish to tell you my day while you are sitting with me." She paused, more or less to think about it, then smiled and walked to the throne. She sat next to him, feeling as though it was a huge honor of him to ask such a thing.

"So Yami-Yugi, are you okay?"

"Well, I'm okay, just tired and stressed out. I have this really bad headache. Other than that my day was just busy."

She seemed to notice how tired he looked; considering he's using Yugi's body, he looked dehydrated and sleep deprived. His eyes had slight dark circles, and he looked a little pale. She took his hands and was holding them.

"I'm sorry you had a rough day. I hope you feel better though."

He seemed to relax a bit, his tense shoulders loosening. He liked her soft and tender voice and touch, and gave her a warm smile.

"Thank you, Tea."

Sababah was sitting with a harp placed in front of him. He was positioned at a slight angle in a little in front of both Tea and Yami-Yugi.

"My Pharaoh, the piece I will be playing for you is called Evening Fall. It is a calming peace, and will hopefully set your mind at ease. Please enjoy."

And so, without further ado, Sababah played Evening Fall for his Pharaoh and Tea. All negative feelings were faded from Yami-Yugi, and he began to relax very, very much. Both Tea and Yami-Yugi were quiet, listening and appreciating each wonderful tune, each wonderful melody. Tea was smiling, and so was Yami-Yugi.

"So beautiful..." whispered Yami-Yugi to himself, which made Tea look at Yami-Yugi. His skin color was radiant and lively again; his eyes were closed and he was sucked into a peaceful daydream with the music. She paused, but decided to relax as well; she held his hands with love and compassion, and closed her eyes as well.

After another minute or so the song was finished. Sababah placed his hands on his lap, then asked Yami-Yugi, "My Pharaoh, did you like the song?"

Peaceful silence was Yami-Yugi's response, as he nodded his head yes slowly, opening his eyes.

Tea opened her eyes, and she said in awe, "It was breathtaking Sababah. You play the harp very well." Sababah simply smiled and thanked her for the compliment.

"I loved every second of it my bodyguard. Thank you, and please, I want you to play that for me and my Tea every night."

"Gladly, my Pharaoh." Tea blinked and thought on what she just heard.

*Wow, does Yami-Yugi like me? I like him too, but...* She realized that she really likes Yami-Yugi, so she got off the throne she was sitting on, and gave Yami-Yugi a bow.

"Thank you for letting me spend some time with you this night. Can we spend some time together tomorrow night?" Yami-Yugi was blushing.

"Of course, Tea. Good night." He gave her a goodnight hug, which made Tea's cheeks glow a cute pink color. She gave him a hug back, but for some reason she couldn't let go, and neither would he. Their hug lasted a good half minute, until Tea let go.

"Um, well, good night Pharaoh!" She waved while running off to her room, trying to hide the blush all over her face. Yami-Yugi stood there, watching her leave to her bedroom. He knew that he was in true love with Tea Gardener...and Tea knew she was in true love with Pharaoh Yami-Yugi.


	28. Flowing Love

The next day went quite similar, but with a few changes. First of all, Bakura noticed how dreamy Tea looked and that she was spacing out a lot, but mostly when the subject of Yami-Yugi came up. He realized that Tea was in love with Yami.

"So you really like him, huh Tea?" asked Bakura as Tea and him were sitting on a bench in the grand garden.

"Yeah, I really do. Do you think he loves me back?"

Bakura nodded his head. "I think he does, Tea. You should spend some time with him again tonight; I believe he thinks you can relieve him of his daily stresses as Pharaoh." She giggled, feeling as bright as the stars that watched over her and Yami-Yugi last night.

Bakura's day was the usual, except for snooping around the throne room, spying on the Pharaoh and his bodyguard. He was spying from the front throne room doors that were a crack open. He even witnessed the scene when Yami-Yugi almost executed one of his servants.

Yami-Yugi's day went so much smoother and less stressful, yet he still felt the bitterness linger on throughout his day. He almost sentenced one of his servants to death for building a technology based pyramid.

"I will have you sentenced to death!" shouted Yami-Yugi at the servant.

"Please my Pharaoh, it was a small mista-"

"Small!? You've ruined the name of ancient Egypt's pyramids itself! Disgraceful! You will be-"

As Yami-Yugi was about to have the servant executed, he stopped himself. He felt the guilt rise up inside of him, but he wasn't just guilty about what he said; he was guilty about taking Yugi's body.

*I snatched him all for myself, not allowing anyone else to have him but me. I cannot allow my impure nature to corrupt him and corrupt my title as Pharaoh...*

He sat back down on his throne; then looked away from all of them, guilt treading in his voice.

"You are free to go my servant. Keep up the technology based pyramid. I shall make use of it somehow."

Sababah kept quiet, but showed micro expression of fear on his face. The servant was relieved, so then he saluted and walked out of the throne room very quickly.

The end of the day went similar, only with Tea asking Yami-Yugi some questions after they heard Sababah play Evening Fall for them. Only this time, Tea felt comfortable enough to say how she feels towards Yami-Yugi.

"So Yami-Yugi," began Tea, "I have some questions to ask you."

Yami-Yugi seemed rather calm at the moment, and tried to hide the bitterness and malice he felt throughout the day with smiles and laughter.

"I'm open to answer your questions, Tea."

"Well, first of all, how long are you going to be keeping me here?"

He paused. He hadn't anticipated she would ask such a question, but he thought carefully in his response anyways.

"Well, to be blunt, 3 years Tea."

She kept calm, but her eyebrows showed surprise.

"3 years? Why would you want to keep me with you for that long?"

"That's that amount of time I have until my time of being Pharaoh is up."

He was half lying to her. That was true what he said, but it was also the amount of time he has until he will separate from Yugi's body. He was scared to tell her such a thing, so he kept quiet about it.

"Oh, I see. Well I have some other questions for you."

"Oh really? Like what?"

She explained to him about what she and Bakura saw in the garden the other day; she asked him about what the inscriptions said on the plaque on the fountain. She also asked him who painted the painting that was mended on the wall in the garden, and why it was there.

"Ah, the plaque. Now that's a story to tell. The plaque says this: Love is like flowing water. When given or received, it flows into the heart and fills it with joy. If love is torn apart from someone, it collides and flows into the deepest darkest parts of our heart."

"Oh wow, how poetic!" She thought on what she had just heard, and then smiled wide at Yami-Yugi.

"So Tea, people tend to think the worst when they lose love or someone that they love. They turn to much darker things, hoping to find something that will fill the empty hole in their heart. As for who specifically painted the large painting in the garden, I'm not exactly sure myself. I do know that the painting was painted by a psychologist that studied ancient Egyptian history. Other than that, that's all I know on the painting."

She was amazed by his logic and words of wisdom. "That's amazing Yami-Yugi! I'm so happy to be here with you!" She gave him a warm hug, which made him blush a cute pink color.

"Yami-Yugi, there's one more thing I wish to ask of you."

"Ask me Tea, and I'll answer you."

She let go of him, slightly trembling from even thinking about how he might respond. Her heart began to beat fast, her hands feeling as though tiny prickling needles were lightly poking them.

"Do you...love me?"

His eyes widened. He thought she would never feel his love for her, but he shook it off and smiled at her.

"Yes Tea, I really do love you."

Joy overflowed Tea's heart, content and happiness sparkled in her big ocean blue eyes. She was crying tears of joy.

"Oh Yami-Yugi, I love you too!"

She stood up and picked him up by the waist, twirling with him down the stairs in front of the thrones. They were both laughing, happy souls in love. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they gave each other a tight hug.

"Let us never break apart Tea." Whispered Yami-Yugi to her, as he placed his hand on her right cheek. They gazed into each others eyes, letting themselves be wrapped in each others love and care.

Tea held his hand that was touching her cheek. She resided to holding it at their sides. With the throne room's huge window allowing the full moon to glow it beauty on them, they kissed on the lips ever so slowly. The world was oblivious to them, feeling light as a feather, almost like they were being gently lifted off the ground and floating in the air.

When they stopped kissing, Yami-Yugi gently wringed his hand, so she was not grasping his hand. She backed away a little, taking in the moment as slowly as she could. She was the first to speak.

"Let us always love each other Yami-Yugi, no matter what."

"Yes, no matter what." He yawned, and clapped his hands, which allowed the throne room's lights to be off.

"Good night Pharaoh Yami-Yugi." She bowed, and then waved as she walked to the throne room doors, exiting the room rather quickly. He waved as he said goodnight to her. He glanced at Sababah, who was smiling the whole time.

"Well my Pharaoh, you're in love. I'm happy for you."

And so, Yami-Yugi went to sleep and so did Sababah, but this night, Sababah, Tea and Yami-Yugi slept in peace. As for Bakura, he was watching the whole time from the throne rooms back entrance doors. He too, slept peacefully, but he dreamed of evil things.

Evil things, like finding the perfect moment to steal Yami-Yugi's Millennium Puzzle.


	29. Happy Holidays

With each passing day at the palace, Tea and Yami-Yugi's relationship grew closer and closer, while Yami-Yugi grew bitterer and bitterer. Even with his growing bitter nature, he was never bitter in front of Tea. Beyond this Yami-Yugi has become hot headed and screams at his bodyguard when things don't go as planned. Sababah, not wanting to change the course of things, simply takes this rage and malice.

Sababah knew that becoming Pharaoh would harden Yami-Yugi's heart; he foresaw it when he first met Yugi. The sound of a heavenly choir that Yugi heard when he first met Sababah was a sign that Sababah is the greatest example Yami would ever have while controlling Yugi. One night, the night before Christmas Eve, Sababah was praying on his knees by his bed, hands on the mattress.

"The course of things must not be changed. Whatever happens, the Pharaoh must recognize on his own what he has done wrong. Please Lord Jesus; I came here not to worship false gods or men," While he was praying Bakura was spying on him, ear pressed against Sababah's bedroom door. Sababah continued.

"I came here to show them that you are the true God, the only God. You gave us your wonderful grace, love and justice. I will play my part as your instrument and show the Pharaoh the truth. Thank you for everything, in your Son's name I pray, Amen." He arose from the floor, and went to sleep. Bakura was surprised to discover that Sababah was a Christian, so he quickly went to bed to think on it, and then went to sleep.

Christmas Eve back home in Domino City was not as big for Joey, Tristen, Joe Moto and Solomon Moto. Although they did put the decorations on the Christmas tree together in the small living room at the back of the Game Shop, it wasn't the same without Tea, Bakura and especially Yugi.

"This Christmas tree is kinda small, don't ya think Tristen?" asked Joey to Tristen. They were sitting on the couch in front of the fire place.

The tree was 4 feet tall and 2 and half feet wide. It had a star on top and all sorts of lights, decorations, and angel hair on it. Tristen looked at the Christmas tree for ten seconds then nodded his head.

"Yep, it sure is puny."

"Christmas Eve dinner is ready!" called Solomon and Joe from the kitchen.

"Alright!" Shouted Joey and Tristen as they high fived, running to the dining room.

Once they all ate a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner of honey baked ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, eggnog and cornbread, they headed for bed. Even though it was Christmas Eve, Joey and Tristen still thought of their friends back in Egypt. How long would Tea and Bakura be gone? When would they be back? All of these questions and more were replayed over and over in their heads that night. It was hard for them to sleep.

Tea and Yami-Yugi's Christmas Eve was a night to remember. For Christmas Eve they ate a delicious feast of American foods, all sorts of food for choosing.

"This food is delicious Yami-Yugi!" Said Tea as she munched on a piece of honey baked ham.

"Thank you Tea, well, thank the chefs. They're the ones that prepared and cooked the food. I only asked them to make a feast of American foo-"

"This is amazing! I absolutely LOVE butter biscuits!" Shouted Bakura as he was chowing down on butter biscuits and gulping milk.

Sababah was quietly munching on a piece of turkey. Yami-Yugi was eating some sweet cake pops. Everyone at the table was staring at Yami-Yugi, and then staring at his plate.

"...What? What!?" He had an irritation sign on his head.

"Your eating cake pops as your meal?" asked Bakura to Yami-Yugi.

"Yes...is that a problem?" answered Yami-Yugi as he did a cute chibi glare at Bakura, a cake pop in his mouth.

Bakura's eye twitched, then everyone busted into hearty laughter. Yami-Yugi simply continued to eat cake pops as everyone else was laughing.

"Well, Pharaoh. If you eat too many sweets you'll have a sugar rush, then you'll have trouble sleeping." Mumbled Sababah to his Pharaoh, who twitched from hearing that.

"Wha!? Well I don't care. I'm Pharaoh I'll eat what I want to eat!" He put his hands on his hips, munching on a cake pop.

This only further made everyone burst into laughter. Yami-Yugi slumped down in embarrassment.

Christmas morning for Joey, Tristen, Solomon Moto and Joe Moto was as hilarious as any guys-only Christmas could be.

"Alright everyone, time to open gifts!" shouted Solomon in the living room.

Joey and Tristen were playing wirelessly via Nintendo 3DS. They were playing Resident Evil: Revelations. Joe sat on the couch looking down and sad. Once Joey and Tristen put away their game, they sat with Solomon and Joe on the couch.

"Okay, I'll give out my presents first." said Solomon, as he bent over and picked up a fairly small gift.

"My son, this is for you." He handed the gift to Joe, whose face turned from sadness to cheerfulness.

"Thanks dad."

Joe tore the wrapping and opened a small box that had jewels decorated on it. The gift was a dueling card.

"Oh, dad! I can't believe you got me such a card!"

"Hey what is it?" Moaned Joey.

"It's a Special Card called Fatherly Love. If your life points give out, it allows them to come back full. Not only that, but your monster that was killed is brought back to the field in full health! Dad, thank you so much for this card, I love it! Love you dad!"

Joe gave his father a tight hug, so tight that Solomon's face was turning blue.

"Okay son your welcome! Try not to keel me over in the process!" Joe let go, laughing while his dad was breathing again. Joey and Tristen were also laughing.

"You youngsters have a terrible sense of humor!" moaned Solomon, fists on his hips, looking chibi irritated.

And so, Joey got a hot wheels toy car, a joke present from Tristen. Tristen got a toy motorcycle from Joey. They were both annoyed yet laughed when they opened their joke presents. For the real presents, Joey got Tristen a new motorcycle that apparently looked the same as his toy one. Tristen gave Joey his own DJ music play backer, which made Joey scream like a fan girl, bringing another laugh to all of them.

Joe gave his father a white tuxedo; the reason he gave him one is because he doesn't own even one formal outfit. Thus, ending the Christmas for Joey, Tristan, Solomon and Joe: their first guys only Christmas.

Christmas back at the palace was a royal moment and beautiful one. Tea woke up on Christmas morning feeling as fresh as a flower. As soon as she walked out of her bedroom, she was greeted by Yami-Yugi.

"Good morning Tea! Merry Christmas!" He gave her a hug, which made her blink twice, and then she returned the hug with a kiss on the cheek.

"Good morning Yami-Yugi. Merry Christmas! So, the tree is in the ball room, right?"

"That's right, and I wanted to walk you there. I wasn't sure if you've been in there before, so I figured it would be best if I showed you where it is."

When they reached the doors to the ball room, Yami-Yugi asked Tea to close her eyes. She did so, and when she entered the ball room, she was astounded by the sight before her. A huge Christmas tree was in the middle of the ball room, lights and Egyptian decorations of all kind were on the tree. The ball room was dark, with Christmas colored lights making the room glow very beautifully.

"It's...it's beautiful, Yami-Yugi." whispered Tea to him.

"I wanted you to feel more at home, so I had a Christmas tree put in this room, but with Egyptian decorations. So, you get a taste of both cultures." said Yami-Yugi as he was walking with her towards the tree. She noticed that Bakura was dressed in Christmas pajamas, and so was Sababah.

She was in blue her night gown. Yami-Yugi was in his royal pajamas, which were basically regular pajamas, except they had gold and jewels on it.

Tea was given flowers from Bakura, which she thought were really pretty and sweet of him. Sababah gave her a red pendant necklace. Although she loves these gifts, her favorite was Yami-Yugi's.

"Here you go Tea, this is for you." Tea noticed that the gift was clothing that was covered with a wrap, so she wouldn't know exactly what it is. She took the covering off, and gasped with joy and surprise.

It was a beautiful golden yellow ball gown with red drapes like pleats, and came with golden jewelry with red jewels on it. The only type of jewelry that wasn't given to her was a necklace. She realized that the pendant Sababah gave her matched perfectly with her ball gown and other jewelry.

"Oh wow Yami-Yugi, it's so pretty! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She gave the dress to Bakura and she ran to Yami-Yugi, embracing him tightly. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm happy that you like it, Tea. I know you want to wear it, but save it for a special occasion. I'll tell you when an occasion comes up that you can wear it to, okay?"

She looked down on him and smiled, nodding her head. "Okay."

With that in mind, they all ate an awesome Christmas morning breakfast, and went to do their own things. Bakura was using his new Nintendo 3DS that Yami-Yugi got him. Sababah was painting a portrait of Tea; he was given the easel from Yami-Yugi. Yami-Yugi didn't get any gifts that he could hold, but he did spend whole day with Tea, showing her the best places in suburban Egypt. Her favorite place was the technology based pyramid, which Yami-Yugi made into a museum.

"I can't believe man was able to recreate the pyramid! It's crazy!" She was looking at all the cool artifacts that compared ancient Egyptian technology to Modern Egyptian Technology.

And so, the day ended with Tea and Yami-Yugi talking to each other about their day in the throne room, only this time it was just the two of them. Yami-Yugi let Sababah end his shift a little early.

"I really liked the technology pyramid museum Yami-Yugi. It was really cool." He simply smiled at her, nodding his head in agreement.

"I'm happy you had fun Tea."

"We spent the whole day together, Yami-Yugi. Did you have fun?"

He chuckled. "Yes I did, my love." She smiled again, now blushing.

She couldn't look away from his big innocent eyes, and he couldn't look away from her friendly and caring eyes. They were sitting next to each other; the throne chairs were replaced with a throne that could hold two people. Yami-Yugi held her hand, as he yawned and began to become sleepy. He layed his head on her shoulder, and she layed her head on his. She yawned too, also beginning to feel sleepy. As they both began to fall asleep, Yami-Yugi whispered something to Tea.

"I love you Tea...help me Tea..." When Yami-Yugi said I love you, it was in Yami's voice. When he said help me Tea, it was in Yugi's voice. She didn't answer, because she had fallen asleep by then.

Then Yami-Yugi ever so slowly closed his eyes, a first person view of him falling asleep.


	30. A Night to Remember

Fast forwarding time, Tea by now has a faded memory of her friends back in Domino City. Her memory of them is still there; it's just faded and has been over written with new memories. Memories...of her in love with Yami-Yugi.

A year has passed by now, and Tea has grown to be focused mostly on Yami-Yugi. She still talks to Bakura, just not as often. She hasn't talked with him too much since he's been less lively and more quiet than usual. He's even had days where he is unseen for the whole day.

Yami-Yugi is having battles against himself, or, against Yugi. One night in the spring, Yami-Yugi was having trouble sleeping. He didn't know what it was, so he got up and walked to the restroom. When he turned on the lights and looked at himself in the mirror, he didn't see Yugi's body; he saw his own- Yami's body. This caused him to cover his mouth because he screamed, hoping that he didn't wake anyone up. He backed away in fear and fell onto the ground, against the wall in the corner of the bathroom. He slowly uncovered his mouth, trembling at the sight he saw.

"What was that? How could this happen?" he whispered to himself. He arose and quickly looked at himself in the mirror again. He was back to looking as Yugi.

"Huh? But I saw..." He sighed out of relief, putting his hand on his cheek.

"Thank goodness I'm back to normal. Maybe I was just seeing things."

So he turned off the light in the bathroom, and went back to bed. He did not hear the chuckles that came from the shadows in his bedroom. The Pharisees were cloaked in the shadows, a dark violet aura around them.

"Losing the vessel...Losing the control..." they whispered into Yami-Yugi's dreams, causing him to wince in his sleep.

Yami-Yugi did not want to lose what he sacrificed everything for.

One morning Tea was awoken by Yami-Yugi. "Good morning my love. Rise and shine." She sat up rather quickly, rubbing her eyes so she could wake up easier.

"Hmm? Oh, good morning Yami-Yugi." He stepped out and let her change into her every day out clothes. When she exited her bedroom, he was there waiting for her.

"Tea, today we are having a one year anniversary of me being Pharaoh. Bakura should have told you this before, correct?"

"Mhm. Yeah he did."

"Excellent. The celebration will be tonight at eight o'clock sharp in the ball room. Even though it is the morning, I would like you to prepare for it now so that you don't need to worry later. Okay?"

She smiled, still feeling that just woke up doziness.

"Okay, sounds good. Would an occasion like this be good for me to wear the dress you gave to me on Christmas? I haven't worn it yet or any of the jewelry. I wanted to save it for something special."

His eyes gleamed with happiness. "Of course Tea, this occasion would be perfect. What makes it perfect is because the dress is a dancing ball dress, and you and I will dance, along with others that I've invited."

She seemed to be thinking on something rather important. Then she asked Yami-Yugi "So, who did you invite?"

"I invited important people from all around the world, people from the United States to England to even Germany." This is where he lifted his arms in the air, walking through the hallway, and feeling as grand and mighty as any Pharaoh could be.

"It will be a night to remember, my Tea. People will soon see the beauty and glory that is Egypt is evolving into. Through all the hard work of those who work for us, we will reign supreme!" He shouted, his voice echoing, but it was in Yami's voice.

She couldn't quite understand what he was getting at, but she did notice that his voice was Yami's. "You're voice Yami-Yugi, it was in, you know, Yami's voice- you're voice!"

He did not say anything, he simply quietly said to himself "They are not slaves; they are people who volunteered to help restore Egypt's glory and peace. I treat them all very well, so why did the Pharisees tell me they are slaves?"

She looked confused, but she shook it off and smiled. He looked down rather bitterly, until Tea held his hand, which made him quickly lift his head and look at her.

"Let's head to the dining room for breakfast, okay?" slowly said Tea to him, as she lightly pulled him so that they were walking to the dining room. He did not say a word, only simply nodded his head in agreement.

As everyone did what they needed to do to get ready, the day passed by very fast, and next thing everyone knew it was eight o'clock sharp.

An announcer stepped into the middle of the ball room, holding a microphone as he cleared his throat.

"Good evening, o' people from across great lands! It is my pleasure to announce the start of the anniversary of Yami-Yugi as Pharaoh! Please give a warm welcome to the young Pharaoh himself, Yami-Yugi!"

Just then a loud applause burst in the room as Yami-Yugi was brought in the room on his royal chair. Sababah was right next to him, walking -Yugi was smiling and waving to his audience, blowing kisses to the ladies in the room, which caused many of them to faint with glee. He was taken off his chair by two guards that placed him down next to Tea, who was waiting in the middle of the ball room next to the announcer. Yami-Yugi took the microphone from the announcer, and the announcer walked away to the tech area.

"Good evening my humble guests! I am very glad to see that each of you was able to come tonight. The night will start with 2 guests saying a speech on how they view the progress of Egypt being restored, and what can be improved. After that, refreshments will be available at the long tables at the left hand side of the ball room."

Tea noticed the large screens on walls that were translating everything that was being said into several different languages. Yami-Yugi continued.

"We will first have the Prime Minister of England, David Cameron come up to speak, then the President of the United States, Barack Obama to speak. After that, the ball will start. We would love to have all of you spoken, but due to time, anything you have to say will be personally said to me after the ball has ended. Thus, ending our celebration and anniversary! Please give a warm welcome to the Prime Minister of England, David Cameron!"

A big round of applause started again, and David Cameron gave his speech, and so did Barack Obama.

Tea sat next to Yami-Yugi while he was listening intently on their speeches. She listened too, but definitely wasn't as interested as him. Tea glanced around wondering where Bakura was. She saw him working with the tech stuff. He lifted his head up and made eye contact with her, so then he smiled at her, which made her give a small wave to him.

After the speeches were finished, refreshments were eaten, and drinks were served.

Yami-Yugi was talking with his guests while sitting on his royal chair, having more of casual conversations than ones on politics and such. He proved to be cute and adorable to the ladies, while men were secretly envious of him, yet he managed to get along with everyone. He even made the Prime Minister of England and the President of the United States laugh so hard, they almost spilled their drinks on each other.

This amused Yami-Yugi very much, but he didn't show it on his face.

Tea this whole time was talking with Bakura, who was more lively and friendly than usual.

After a good hour of enjoying conversations and refreshments, it was 9:30 at night; it was time for the ball to start. The announcer had the microphone again as he said very warmly,

"Alright everyone, it's time to start the ball! If you do not wish to dance that is okay, we will not force you to. If any of you wish to leave early, now is the time to. It is 9:30, so the ball will end with the Pharaoh and his girlfriend dancing together at 10:30. Finally the ball will be ended, and you may leave or talk with the Pharaoh if you wish to. Have fun and a good time!"

Tea thought on what she just heard. *Dancing with Yami-Yugi? How romantic! Hmm, I have an idea.*

She walked over to Bakura, who was in charge of the tech stuff.

"Hey Bakura, when you play the song for me and Yami-Yugi to dance to, can you jazz it up a bit?"

He looked confused. "What do you mean jazz it up, Tea?"

"I mean like make it very romantic at first, but then make it more modern and groovy. I want Yami-Yugi to dance at first romantically and elegantly, then kinda modern with me. Can you do that for me please?"

She gave him big eyes, and he just couldn't say no to them, so he nodded his head yes. She walked away whispering thank you, then sat next to Yami-Yugi and began talking to him.

"So Yami-Yugi, it's great and all that you invited all these important people, but how come you didn't invite our friends back home?"

He paused to think on it, less energetic than before and more tired.

"I wanted this occasion to be just for the two of us. To tell you the truth, I wasn't thinking of inviting them in the first place."

She seemed disappointed, but looked away, not wanting to show that she was upset.

"I'm sorry Tea; I wish I could make it up for you somehow."

"It's okay, I understand." She sighed and shook the feeling off, the feeling of her missing her friends back home.

*Back home...what if this is my new home? By now it sure seems that way. Did I really leave my high school life, friends and family behind, to stay in a palace with the Pharaoh of Egypt? What's gotten in to me?*

She seemed troubled, but she was broken from her thoughts by the loud round of applause that was given to Sababah for dancing for the audience. He gave a small bow to his roaring audience, and then glanced at his Pharaoh, who was clapping for Sababah. Yami-Yugi stood up and took the microphone from the announcer.

"I hope you all are enjoying yourselves tonight, my guests! To finish off the night, Tea Gardner and I will be dancing the show stopper, with a romantic Middle East inspired song!" This is where he glances at Tea, stretches his arm out to her and says in the microphone "Tea, my love, will you dance with me?"

She blushed at the tenderness of his voice, then smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course, Yami-Yugi." She stood up and walked over to him. The audience awed at that, as Yami-Yugi handed the microphone to the announcer, still looking into Tea's beautiful eyes. She stared into his big, innocent violet eyes, feeling as though the world around her was beginning to blur. She saw a gentle white glow around him, as she took his hand with great ceremony. The instant she took his hand the music started.

They danced very romantically, with Tea being held by the waist and she holding Yami-Yugi by the shoulders. They elegantly twirled around, moving from side to side, and Yami-Yugi was twirled like a ballerina by Tea. Her dresses drape like pleats fluttered gracefully around her, following her every move. It wasn't until the song turned techno after the first thirty seconds of the song that Yami-Yugi stopped dancing.

"Huh? What gives?" whispered Yami-Yugi to Tea.

"I want you to follow my moves. Just trust me."

Looking confused, he shrugged it off and followed her moves. Their dancing style changed from twirling to a hip hop style, fast and on time with every beat of the song. Yami-Yugi was surprised that he had no trouble at all keeping up with her, and enjoyed dancing hip hop with her more than romantically. He felt her energy sky rocket; clearly she loved dancing this way, and he did too. After a minute and a half, the song finished with them back to back, arms crossed.

There was a long pause from the audience, which made Yami-Yugi very nervous. As soon as he was about to say something to Tea, the audience roared with cheers and clapping, which surprised Yami-Yugi. Tea elbowed him, and he and her bowed for their audience. Tea was waving and he was too. The announcer gave the microphone to Pharaoh.

"Thank you all for coming! It was a pleasure to have you all over in my humble home! Please exit through the back doors. If you wish to talk to me, I will be near the refreshments tables in ten minutes."

He gave the microphone to the announcer very quickly and head to the ball rooms restrooms. Tea was surprised to see him leave so quickly. She walked over to Bakura, who was putting the tech stuff away.

"Hey Bakura, Yami-Yugi left pretty fast to the restroom. Can you go see how he's doing for me?"

"Ah, okay. I'll go right now." He dropped the cable he wrapped into a bag, and then walked away towards the ball rooms restrooms.

When he was in the hallways that lead to the restrooms and was alone, he began to run to the restroom and to the nearest sink. He stumbled and held onto the counter, head down; he felt very tired and dizzy, and then heard a familiar voice in his head.

*You...once I called you friend...how could you have betrayed me?! All this pain and devastation that I feel inside, and it's all because you betrayed me!*

Yami-Yugi twitched as he immediately looked up in the mirror, and saw Yugi's body in the reflection, pain and sorrow all over his face. When Yami-Yugi felt his face, he knew that he was in own body, in Yami's.

Bakura reached the men's restrooms, but he hesitated to walk in. Something in his gut told him to wait and spy on Yami-Yugi. He pressed his ear against the door, listening intently for Yami-Yugi's voice.

"Yugi? How is this possible!?" yelled Yami-Yugi at the mirror; anger growing on his face.

*How could you betray me!? Using my body and corrupting it, was the last thing that I wanted you to do with it! Why Yami!? WHY!? LET MY BODY GO!* The Yugi in the mirror bursted into tears, looking straight into Yami-Yugi's eyes, but only bitterness and anger was in Yami-Yugi's eyes.

"You who I called friend, how could you have come to hate me so?! Is this what you wanted me to feel!?" said Yami-Yugi as his eyes grew even colder and bitterer.

"Then let my heart be hardened, and never mind how high you're pain may grow! This will still be so! I will NEVER let your body go!" He banged his fist on the counter, causing it to rattle and crack in half.

Bakura winced when he heard the counter crack, but kept quiet anyways.

The Yugi in the mirror was shocked, but then faded away as Yami-Yugi calmed down. He looked away from the mirror, letting his steam blow off. After a long pause he felt his face again and he was back in Yugi's body. Oddly enough, when he looked back at the mirror, he felt disgusted from seeing himself in the mirror. He was walking to exit the restroom.

Bakura heard him coming so he freaked out and ran into the women's restroom. Yami-Yugi was walking back to the ball room, and heard some girls squeal in the restroom when he was walking away. The girls kicked Bakura out of the restroom, and he landed on his bottom rather roughly.

Yami-Yugi had fists by his sides as he walked to the refreshments table, and he noticed the line of people that wanted to talk to him was immensely long. He sighed, but talked to each and every one of them. Of course his attitude was more negative than before, but he wasn't necessarily rude to any of them.

When Tea saw that Yami-Yugi was upset, she sighed and went to bed, but said good night to Bakura first, who by then was at putting away the tech stuff.

"So was Yami-Yugi okay?"

"Yes he was Tea. I'm wondering why he looks so upset now though."

"What did you say to him?"

"All I did was asked him if he was okay and he said he was."

She nodded her head and said good night again to Bakura before walking to her bedroom.

In her bedroom she got changed into her night gown and immediately went to bed. She thought over and over what a fun and exciting night she had, and she couldn't see any pattern that may have made Yami-Yugi upset.

"I don't see a pattern of things that would make him upset. Maybe something happened while he was walking out of the restroom? Maybe..."

She stopped herself. She didn't want to lose the good feeling she had before, so she simply went to sleep. Yami-Yugi that night didn't get any sleep at all. Neither did Sababah.

As for Bakura, he slept very, very well that night.


	31. Unseen Patterns

It was a snowy and chilly midday in Domino City, with another winter break for Tristen and Joey. Only this time, they didn't get to spend it with their other friends. Even though they couldn't talk with Tea, Yugi and Bakura, they still made the best of each other.

"Oh yeah! I love this Italian sausage pizza Tristen, it's awesome!" said Joey as he picked up a slice of pizza from the pizza box on the dining room table. The dining room was right next to the living room, where Tristen was already sitting on the couch. Tristen was hanging out at Joey's house to play some videogames and stuff.

"I know right? Little Caesar's sure knows how to make pizza!" Joey sat next to Tristen as they were eatin some pizza.

"Mind if I check the news Joey?"

"Nah, go ahead. My mom makes me watch the 10 o' clock news with her every morning anyways."

"Okay, time to watch some CNN news!"

Tristen clicked the on button for the television, and changed the channel to CNN news. The Main Topic was President Barack Obama giving a speech at a Ball at the Pharaoh's palace in Cairo.

"Thank you all for being here tonight." started the President. "I am proud to announce what my opinions as President of the United States are towards the new Pharaoh of Egypt, Yami-Yugi, and his progress of building up Egypt." Both of them sat up immediately and were listening intently to the President.

"Wait, the president is at the Pharaoh's palace right now?" questioned Tristen to Joey

"Then that means..." This is where Joey looks at Tristen straight in the eyes. "...Yami-Yugi must have invited him to give a speech! Maybe the cameras will show Tea and Yami-Yugi!"

"I sure hope so Joey." said Tristen.

And so, Joey and Tristen continued to watch the news, and the cameras gave a couple shots of the audience and of Yami-Yugi and Tea. The Ball room was immensely large, considering that there were several cameras in the ball room. They're eyes widened when the cameras showed a close up of Tea and Yami-Yugi. Tea looked a little bored, while Yami-Yugi seemed to be very concentrated on Obama's speech.

"Hey look! It's Yami-Yugi and Tea!" Exclaimed Joey as he pointed to them on the TV. He then stopped pointing to hold his pizza and take a bite of it. Tristen's mouth was wide open at seeing how Tea is dressed.

"Whoa Joey, Tea's dressed like a princess!" said Tristen, to Joey, who also looked surprised.

"Wow, I've never seen her wear something that fancy and expensive. Why is she still there after all this time?"

Tristen thought hardly on what Joey was saying, and then an idea popped in his head.

"Joey...what if Yami-Yugi is in love with Tea? More importantly, what if Tea's in love with Yami-Yugi?"

Oddly enough, Joey didn't answer right away.

"That could be a possibility, but even so, what does that have to do with her not coming home?"

Tristen noticed how serious Joey looked, and he began to feel the importance of the situation. They both remained silent and continued watching the speech.

When they finished watching, Tristen turned off the TV and sat back on the couch. Tristen looked at his watch and noticed it was one thirty in the afternoon.

"Hey, I gotta roll Joey. I have electric guitar lessons in 20 minutes." Joey yawned, as he stood up from the couch and threw away his plate.

"Okay man, I guess I'll be seeing you later then."

Tristen walked to the front door opening it against the cold wind outside.

"Hey Joey," called Tristen from the front door. Joey turned around from the dining room table.

"Hm, yeah?"

Tristen gave Joey the thumbs up.

"Take care. I'm sure Tea and the others are fine. I've tried calling her, but the line is disconnected. Just, don't worry, okay?"

There was a long pause before Joey could answer.

"I will take care. You too man."

And so Tristen walked out to the front yard towards his motorcycle, and went home.

Joey yawned as he watched Tristen drive away further into the neighborhood, away from his house. He decided to talk with Serenity over the phone, since she was at winter camp. He layed on his bed as he said to Serenity,

"Hey little sis! What's up?"

As much as he enjoyed talking with her, he just couldn't stop thinking about Tea, but more on if she loves Yami-Yugi. Something inside of him was telling him to stay away from Yami-Yugi if he were to ever meet with him at the palace again.

*Why do I have a bad feeling about Yami-Yugi? Who knows when we'll get to see Tea again? I hope she's okay.* He thought to himself as he turned on his side, feeling lonely even though he was talking with his little sister.

Joey has never been this worried before in his life- therefore he knows that something, just something, will happen at the palace- whether he's there to stop it or not.


	32. Preparing for a Wedding

The palace has become a happy and positive place, considering that Tea and Yami-Yugi are far more in love with each other than ever before. With almost 2 years passed since the night of the Grand Ball, they are ready to take the next step. But, of course, we must first see how much they and the others in the palace have changed over the years.

Tea has grown up to become a lively and passionate young woman, with each day appreciating the blessings she has all around her. Her hair is a little past her shoulders and she's grow a little taller. She's now nineteen years old, and has grown to be much more feminine. To not lose her basic education skills, she goes to the best AP classes in Cairo, with Bakura as her class partner. Besides basic education, she is learning far more things, such as the origin of Duel Monsters, and much on how to become a master at it; that's much more that what she would have learned at Domino High. She studies with Bakura every morning and afternoon, and between those sessions she has dance lessons, while Bakura does his own orders from Pharaoh. The majority of these orders are silly little things that the Pharaoh may want, such as candy or something sweet to eat.

Yami-Yugi is happy, relationship-wise, but is still having battles with Yugi in his own mind. He feels confused and he's even screamed in his thoughts because he is angry at himself. Beyond this, his progress of restoring Egypt has been raised tenfold. With the constant buildings of new homes, towns and much more, Yami-Yugi is very busy throughout his day. Of course he just designs everything; he doesn't do the actual building and whatnot. He's renamed the country from Egypt to New Egypt; this brought great acceptance to the people and the high officials, who were pleased very much with the change.

If there's one thing Tea noticed about Yami-Yugi in the years she spent with him, it's that he hasn't seemed to have aged at all. He's the same height, still looks like a fourteen-year-old, and his voice has remained the same. He hasn't had any weird moments when Yami's voice slips out, so Tea just does the best she can to live with it.

Though, the thought of her being nineteen, and him still appearing to be fourteen did make her uncomfortable. She wondered if this was so because of the people of Egypt wanting a young Pharaoh.

Yami-Yugi has kept his slate "clean", of not showing his bitter side to Tea, which she is still unaware of. He's been less harsh and mean to his bodyguard, who's kept his feelings to himself. One night when Tea was too tired to talk with Yami-Yugi, he decided to ask Sababah some peculiar questions.

"Excuse me Sababah, but I have some questions to ask of you."

"Yes, pharaoh?"

Yami-Yugi noticed the change in his words; Sababah always says yes my pharaoh, but he left the word "my" out.

"Why do you always have a smile on your face? Why do you not lash out on me when I lash out on you? What I'm trying to say is..." This is where he began twiddling his hands, looking down slightly. "What rules do you live by? I want to know."

Sababah looked a little surprised, then calmly said, "Pharaoh, may I sit next to you? What I have to say is very important." Yami-Yugi was surprised from this, but nodded his head, so Sababah sat next to him.

And so, Sababah told Yami-Yugi that he is a Christian and that these rules that he lives by, or at least he tries to, to the best of his ability, is the Ten Commandments.

"So, you live by these standards? Then why are you my bodyguard, of all people? I'm the Pharaoh of New Egypt; wouldn't you want to stay away from people like me?"

"No, actually it's quite the opposite. I've known your grandfather Solomon for a long time, and he asked me to be your bodyguard. He knew that I am Christian, and he also knew that you would be facing troubles in your young years. As a Christian it's my job to tell people that don't know God about him and lead them to understand God's love and abiding care." Sababah turned slightly so that he was looking straight into Yami-Yugi's eyes.

"So, when Solomon found out that you would be Pharaoh, he asked me to be your bodyguard and example. Of course, I'm just a humble tool of the Lord Jesus Christ; I try my best to be an example of Him. So, if there's one commandment that stands out to you the most, which one is it?"

Yami-Yugi thought hard on it, but he made his decision. "Thou shall not kill. It makes me feel bad that the past Pharaoh's of my country have killed so many innocent people. I don't want to be like that, I want to be the best Pharaoh I can be."

"Yami-Yugi, you can, but only if you truly follow by God's example. How can you be an example for your country, if you're having troubles in your own personal life? I've felt the rage and anger in you, and I don't want you to be angry at Yugi. It's up to you on how you act, how you can change your future. Now what I'm worried about is that when you do separate, he'll be angry at you. Do you think he would be angry?"

Yami-Yugi froze. He hadn't thought Sababah could feel the confusion anger that he's been having.

"I think...I think Yugi will understand, at least I hope he does."

"Well, it's getting late. We should be heading for bed. By the way, the invitations for the wedding have been sent. Tea asked me to invite her friends from Domino City, so I did."

He planted his hands on his knees and pushed himself up so that he was standing. He smiled and said "Is that a problem?"

"Huh? Oh no, of course not. I'm actually happy that she asked. I'll be glad to see them again."

"Okay, then in 2 days the wedding will be held in here, right?"

"Uh-huh. In two days."

"Well, goodnight Pharaoh."

"Goodnight."

And so, they headed off for bed with Yami-Yugi feeling a burden relieved off his shoulders. He didn't want to be bitter anymore, and he wouldn't be. He slept very well that night, feeling finally at peace in the corridors of his mind. Though he felt at peace, he still had one unanswered question.

*What will happen when we separate?* He quietly asked himself in his dreams.


	33. An Invitation

The next morning in Domino City, Joey woke up bright and early to make some breakfast for his parents and Serenity. Serenity was now living with Joey and their parents together. Although he isn't a master chef, he has gotten really good at cooking breakfast meals. Besides this, Joey has matured very much since he last saw Yugi and Tea, but he's still his funny regular self. When he and his family were eating together at the breakfast table, Joey's father asked him to check if the mail was here yet.

"Okay dad, I'm on it." said Joey as he grabbed his winter coat that was hanging on the coat rack by the front door. So then Joey walked outside to the mail box and got the mail, then went back inside after he closed the mail box. Joey returned to the table, looking through the mail.

"Let's see...junk mail, junk mail, junk mail, junk mail- oh hey what's this!?" , said Joey as he stood up from his chair, excited and curious at the mail.

"What is it Joey?" Serenity politely asked.

"It's... it's mail from New Egypt! It's from the Pharaoh, and he's invited me to his wedding with...Tea!?" Joey's mouth was agape and his parents were shocked from hearing that. He immediately opened the invitation, and read quickly to himself what it said.

"New Egypt!? Joey, are you really going!? You can't go back there, it's dangerous!" Sternly said his father, but Joey refused to listen.

"Dad, this is the only opportunity I'll have to see Tea and Yugi again! I have to go! And I need to leave in like 3 hours for the private plane the Pharaoh provided!" He ran to his room and closed the door, changing into his nicest black tuxedo.

He began packing his stuff, like his phone and other things, when he got a text from Tristen about how he also got an invitation. The text also said to meet him at the Game Shop. He through his backpack over his shoulders and ran to the front door.

"Hey dad, I gotta go okay? I promise I'll be home soon, bye!"

"No, Joey, don't go!" said his parents in unison as they ran after him, but Joey was already speeding away in his black mustang to the Game Shop. His parents were astonished to see him just run off like that. He hasn't done something like that since his sophomore year of high school, which they realized was the year that his friends left to Egypt.

When Joey arrived at the Game Shop and walked in, Tristen was already there with Joe and Solomon Moto. And so, Tristen, Joey, Joe and Solomon all discussed about the invitation they were sent. Joe was actually the most surprised by this, since he never pictured his son getting married so quickly.

"I know there are many questions that we have in our heads right now, but our first priority is getting to that plane as soon as possible." said Joey to them very seriously.

"You're right Joey, but we shouldn't be so anxious about the situation." reassured Solomon to them, a confident smile on his face; he then continued.

"This is a good thing that we get to see them again. Wouldn't you be happy if you saw your friends come to your wedding in a great mood? We should be happy that we get to see Yugi and Tea again."

Joey and Tristen paused and looked at each other, but then nodded their heads and changed their attitudes about the situation.

And so, they headed by car to the plane, got on board, and headed to New Egypt. Even though Tristen and the other guys seemed okay about going to see their friends and family again, Joey still felt as though something was going to happen. On the plane he sat next to Tristen, and Solomon and Joe sat together.

He looked out small window, thinking on Yugi and how he might be feeling. He couldn't help but think the worst of Yugi; as much as Yami-Yugi looks and sounds like Yugi, he knows that it's the spirit Yami that is going to be marrying Tea.

Joey kept his thoughts to himself, but his face clearly showed that he was troubled, but the others were asleep by then, since nighttime had come.


	34. React to Contact

An hour before the wedding...

Bakura was in his bedroom and was dressed in the most high quality black tuxedo available to the servant's of Pharaoh. Actually, it was the spirit of the millennium ring that was in control, not Ryo Bakura. Now putting his wristwatch communicator on, he was ready to contact Seto Kaiba once again. So then he prepped his hair in front of the full body mirror on the wall next to his closet, until he heard Seto answer.

"Hello? Is this Bakura?"

"Ah, Seto Kaiba. Yes, this is Bakura. I have some news for you."

"Bakura!? You have news!? I've been waiting for years now! Tell me!"

Bakura almost laughed to himself from hearing Seto in such a state, but he saved his true feelings for later. "I'm going to be blunt. Yami-Yugi and Tea are in love and are getting married today."

"What? Tea's going to marry the Pharaoh? Why wasn't I told sooner?"

"Because your existence of being at the wedding would ruin everything. And, you just weren't invited."  
This irritated Seto, but he didn't want to waste time.

"Bakura, if anything happens, let me know as soon as possible. I've been thinking about Yugi, and I just can't help but wonder what his mental state will be when he and Yami separate. Remember, tell me if anything happens, understand?"

This is where Bakura was putting on a square VIP badge onto his tuxedo.

"But of course, Seto. I'll do as you say." He couldn't help but smirk at the thought of what he was going to do to the Pharaoh soon.

"Okay then, I'll talk to you later." and Seto ended the call.

He looked over to his dresser, walked to it and pulled out a very sharp hand blade. It was Bakura's job to put whatever the Pharaoh may need in his tuxedo.

"I think little Yugi may need this very soon." He opened the closet door, took out the Pharaoh's wedding tuxedo, and placed it on the bed. He had already put the "normal things" in the pockets that Yami-Yugi might need during the wedding.

He thought very carefully and intently on where he should place the weapon. He had several options. He could place it in the back pocket of the pants, either back pocket, or the front ones. He could place it in the front chest pocket, but that would make it easy to see from a close distance. The only other place he could put it was the inner pocket inside the tuxedo, and he decided to put it there. It couldn't be seen from a close distance, nor could it be seen from far away.

He did so, and picked up the outfit, smirking as he quietly said to himself "He'll think the hand blade was placed for self-defense reasons, so there is no need to worry of him suspecting something. Now all I have to do is give the outfit to the mighty fool himself." And so, Bakura proceeded to giving the outfit to Yami-Yugi who was in his quarters, waiting for just that.

"I hope I put everything that you might need, my Pharaoh." said Bakura smiling, his more innocent eyes showing now and his innocent voice.

"Thank you Bakura. Now, please leave my quarters so that I can change."

"But of course, my Pharaoh." Bakura bowed before leaving, and then left the room rather quickly. Yami-Yugi raised a quizzical brow, but simply walked to the door, closed it, locked it, and began to take off his clothes.

Once he changed into his white tuxedo he checked all his pockets but the inner pocket. He turned around and walked toward the body mirror next to his bed. He smiled, happy to see himself dressed for his wedding. Then he felt the inner pocket of his jacket, and was surprised by what he felt.

"A hand blade? I didn't specify for a self-defense weapon, but I guess there's no harm with self-defense if I need to defend myself." He didn't bother taking it out, so he continued getting ready for the wedding.


	35. The Wedding Part 1

It was 8:00 at night in Cairo, New Egypt and Joey, Tristen, Solomon and Joe arrived at the palace's front gates. They had forgotten how huge the front gates were; there was top security everywhere. After the helicopter left them at the front gates, they headed in the guest line to show the guards at the gates their invitations. While they were waiting in line, Tristen noticed two guards talking in hushed voices, glancing at him and Joey every now and then.

"Hey Joey," whispered Tristen as he tapped Joey's shoulder from behind. "See those two guards over there?" Tristen eyes were glancing in the direction of the two guards.

Joey glanced back at Tristen in response to the tap, then turned around and said "Huh? What two guards?" Joey then glanced in the direction Tristen was glancing in, and they both watched as the two guards were walking towards them.

Both Joey and Tristen's faces were surprised yet goofy, as they quickly turned and looked forward towards the line. Once the guards reached them, one of them sternly asked

"Are you two Tristen Taylor and Joey Wheeler?"

They both glanced at each other, until Tristen replied

"Uh, yeah?"

"Okay then, do you happen to be with a Joe Moto and Solomon Moto?"

"Ah, yeah they're right behind us."

This caused Solomon to glance a bit forward, as well as Joe. The guard took their invitations while saying

"You'll all be escorted to the front of the line, so that you will be the first to walk in to the wedding room. These were orders by the Pharaoh himself, you cannot deny them."

"The Pharaoh? You mean Yami-Yugi?" exclaimed Joey.

"Yes, now please follow us as we escort you to the front of the line."

All of them did so, and were now at the front of the line, which was at the front gates. After that the guards walked back to their guarding positions, and Joey, Tristen, Solomon and Joe were the first in line. Being the closest to the gates of the palace, they all prepared themselves for what they may see. They noticed the actual palace's front door were open, but there was top security everywhere. Of course, there was a metal detector which they would have to walk through before passing through the gates.

A front guard then opened the gates after all the guests went through the metal detector, which everyone was unarmed. Thus, Joey took a deep breath in before walking with the others through the gates; Tristen seemed to grow a little wondered at the beautiful sights of the palace. Once everyone was in the front of the Palace's opened doors they walked in very calmly. Guards were leading them to the throne room's doors, and they waited there until the guards were given the okay to open them. Joey seemed all the more serious about everything, and Tristen started to as well.

Both of them realized the situation they were in. They were going to see the Pharaoh of New Egypt get married. They were finally going to see Tea and, hopefully Yugi back to normal. They knew that as soon as Yugi and Yami synchronized, the clock would be ticking for them. It's almost been a full 3 years since then, there were only 2 weeks left of the year. Meaning it was winter, but it did not snow in New Egypt.

Inside the throne room, Yami-Yugi and Tea were sitting on the throne and decided that they were ready to start the wedding. Tea felt like her emotions were riding in all directions. She didn't know if she was excited or if she was nervous. What she did know was that she loves Yami-Yugi and that she is happy to be marrying to him.

Yami-Yugi felt directly the same, but for some reason he just didn't feel right. He didn't know what kind of feeling it was, but he felt as though he was slowly getting weaker and weaker. He did his best to stay strong for Tea; he didn't want to ruin the most important day of his life.

Of course Sababah was standing in his usual place next to the throne, hands behind his back; he looked more serious than usual. Bakura was standing on the opposite side of the thrones, hands behind his back as well. Bakura seemed very relaxed yet expressionless. Every now and then he would side step back and forth for three seconds, then continue standing.

Yami-Yugi glanced at the nearest guard and nodded his head. The guard saluted, then brought out a walkie talkie and told the guards that were outside the palace doors to open them.

Just then, a small sliver of shining light was released from the throne room doors that were slowly opening. This caused all the guests to shield their eyes, until the breath taking, awe wondering sight was before them. As soon as the brightness cleared up and they began to walk inside, music of ancient Egypt filled the room. They were walking on a white carpet that led all the way to the thrones. There were musicians of all kinds, dancers flowing around long white and golden ribbons.

When they looked up, the ceiling seemed immeasurably tall, with a huge white and gold banner that had the phrase "Welcome to the Wedding of Pharaoh Yami-Yugi and Tea Gardner" in English. A little passed the doors were white, cushioned chairs for the guests to sit on. The instant the last guest walked in, Yami-Yugi arose from his chair and raised his hand to halt the dancers and music. Him raising his hand also made the guests stop walking as they stood, waiting for the Justice of the Peace to speak.

Lowering his hand, he noticed Joey, Tristen, his grandfather and father were in the front of the crowd. He felt relieved that they could make it. Tea then stood up as her and Yami-Yugi were standing face to face, the Justice of the Peace now behind them.

"Welcome everyone, I hope that you all are doing very well this evening. We are here today in the presence of family and friends to share with Tea and Yami-Yugi the most important day of their lives. We do this as the legal requirement to be married but this ceremony does not alter the love required to be husband and wife. Without the love between these two people we would not be here today."

The Justice of the Peace began to look curious at the bride and groom; he began to seem much wondered on a thought.

"What is marriage? It has been said that marriage is that relationship between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual and the obligation reciprocal. Tea and Yami-Yugi you are now to bring together the best parts of your individuality, uniting spirit, talent and experience to create something better than either of you alone can offer. You must, and I'm sure will, Work hard to maintain this unison."

Those last few sentences made Yami-Yugi feel quite uncomfortable. The best parts of your individuality, uniting spirit, maintain this unison... hearing those phrases made him feel very uneasy.

*How...how can I show the best parts of my individuality to Tea if I am not my individual self? How can I unite my spirit with Tea if my spirit is synchronized with Yugi's? How could I ever maintain my unison with Tea...if I can't even maintain my unison with Yugi? All my negative feelings have rubbed off on him...and now...*


	36. The Wedding Part 2

He felt as though he was losing control of Yugi's body, but he seemed as normal as ever to everyone else. His face though, showed that he was in deep pain. Tea noticed this, but for some reason couldn't say anything.

"Are...are you okay Pharaoh?" asked the Justice of the Peace to Yami-Yugi.

Clearly Yami-Yugi was in dire pain, as he backed away, hand gripped at his heart. He began to breath heavy and fast, his vision began to blur, as he could no longer see Tea or anything clearly. Tripping and stumbling backwards, he fell on the ground, screaming in agony.

"Aaaggghhh!" Let out Yami-Yugi, who was now glowing a dark purple.

"Yami-Yugi! Someone help!" shouted Tea as she resorted to his help. The Justice of the Peace seemed very disturbed by it all, unable to speak at the sight he was beholding. Sababah immediately ran to his Pharaoh, also at his side.

"Tea, you need to back away, he and Yugi are separating!" The guests began to worry, some were already panicking. Joey and other guys all stood up, and Joey quickly said to Tristen

"What's going to happen after they separate?"

"I don't know Joey, but we shouldn't intervene right now, we might make things worse!" Tea did back away from Yami-Yugi, and she noticed that his eyes were now glowing a dark purple. She covered her mouth in fear, for she saw a faded out line of Yami appearing to levitate up out of Yugi's body. Seeing that made Sababah back away as well. The faded out line became clearer and clearer, until Yami was separated from Yugi and fell right next to him. Yami seemed to be okay, but he was tremendously weak; not in pain, just weak.

Yugi on the other hand, was screaming at the top of his lungs. He was trembling and shaking violently, his pupils very small. Yami slowly got up, still a little foggy from the separation. When he noticed that Yugi was screaming, he looked as though he was guilty for committing murder.

He simply stood in horror at the sight before him, lips tightly shut. Tea looked as though she wanted to cry, but she pulled herself together and pulled Yugi up so that he was sitting up.

"Yugi! Yugi please calm down! I don't want to see you like this! Please stop!" She fell on her knees and was hugging him tightly.

"Please...stop." she whispered to him. He stopped screaming, and his pupils returned to their normal size. His tense muscles started to relax, as he almost inaudibly whispered something to her.

"Huh? What did you say, Yugi?"

Just then Yugi slowly rose up from the ground, taking in his surroundings. He seemed to have trouble standing, and when he looked up at the big banner that had the words "Welcome to the Wedding of Pharaoh Yami-Yugi and Tea Gardner", he looked at Yami. He stared at him for five seconds, and then stared at Tea for three, and back at Yami.

"You...were going to marry Tea?" asked Yugi to Yami.

"Ah, Yugi, please, don't get-"

"Why? Why would you lie to me Yami? Why would you betray me!?" Yugi began to get angry, gritting his teeth, all forms of innocence erased and cleared from him.

"Why!? WHY!? WHY!? WHY!? WHY!?" Screamed Yugi at him, as he ran up to him and tackled him. They both were bumping and rolling down the steps in a big mess, but Yugi somehow managed to pin Yami down while on his knees.

"YOU'LL PAY YAMI! PAAYY!" Just then, Yami felt Yugi's cold hands grip his throat, strangling him. He was terrified and wanted to die, as he saw out of the corner of his eye Sababah running down the steps. Yugi's pupils became small again, as he was letting out something he's wanted to do since the night of the ball.

The instant he pulled out the hand blade from his inner pocket, he screamed like an insane, corrupted child. He was centimeters away from stabbing Yami in the heart, but someone gripped his hands frozen.

Joey was gripping his hands, unraveled them, and snatched the hand blade. This made Yugi freeze for five seconds, barely enough time for Joey and Tristen to drag Yugi away from Yami. Bakura was watching everything very intently from the throne, and seemed irritated that Joey and Tristen stopped Yugi.

Yugi was not giving up without a fit. He screamed and kicked, attempting to wring his wrists free from their iron grip. Seeing that Joey and Tristen had Yugi, Sababah ran to Yami and was going to pick him up, but Yami lashed out a loud no.

"Don't touch me! Get away! Get away!" Lashed Yami at Sababah, but Sababah persisted.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Now this made Sababah obey, as he quickly backed off of Yami, very frightened. This also made Joey and Tristen scared, which allowed for Yugi to wring free from their grasp, and sprint to the open doors. The other guests by now were running out, and Yugi was lost in the crowd of people.

Joey and Tristen were going to go after him, but Sababah shouted no. Tea seemed shocked by it all, but, being a strong girl, recovered as soon as Yugi was gone. Solomon seemed frightened, and Joe was incredibly shocked by it all.

"Do not go after him," warned Sababah to Joey and Tristen. "his mental state is corrupted. This is the after affects of all the negative feelings Yami felt when he was controlling Yugi's body. Do not pursue him." Joey and Tristen listened, as they all turned to see Yami now on his knees.

With a trembling hand, Yami placed it on his chest where his heart is. He looked down at his hand, gripped it, and bursted into tears.

"Yugi..." he whispered to himself. Now with his hands against his sides, he screamed Yugi's name, as it echoed throughout the entire palace.

Yami had lost the one person he may never get back.


	37. Underground

Bakura noticed that this was a perfect chance to slip out of the room, so he quietly trotted down the steps and left from the back doors. Once he quietly closed the doors he walked to his bedroom, which wasn't that far away from the throne room.

Once he reached his room and shut the door, he sat on his bed, knees against his chest. He pulled his right arm sleeve up and turned on his wrist watch communicator. Seto answered immediately, and sounded as though he really wanted to know any new info.

*Seto Kaiba here, what's happened Bakura?*

"I have so much to tell you, Seto."

And so, Seto listened to Bakura for half an hour straight, clinging on to every word, every phrase. Seto Kaiba was sitting at his desk in his personal office, hands folded and elbows resting on the polished wood surface. Bakura was practically out of breath when he was finished explaining. The evil spirit in Bakura actually felt tired from explaining, but he wasn't sure why.

*...I see, Bakura. So Yugi finally cracked, and he even tried to kill Yami for ruining his young life and stealing the girl he loves. He's got guts, I'll give him that. Other than that, what else happened?*

"Well, Yugi ran away and became lost in the panicking crowd of guests, so finding him would be very hard."

*Perfect. You see Bakura, I just thought of an amazing idea. Yugi is probably still at a corrupted state of mind, yes? He probably fled to the darker areas of Cairo, so that he would not be found.*

"What are you trying to get at?"

*I have the perfect plan to fulfill my revenge, gain my blue eyes white dragon cards back, and...retrieve Yugi's millennium puzzle. That's the whole point we made this deal, right?*

Bakura noticed the change in Seto voice. He sounded very dark and evil, yet intelligent and sophisticated.

"Yes, we made the deal back when you first came to the palace in your helicopter."

*I know, and I now know what I must do. There's something I've been working on these past years; I started it the day I lost against that cynical fool Yami at Kaibaland.* Seto rose from his chair and walked out of his personal office and into the hallway.

"Bakura, the thing I've been working on is a dueling arena specially made for my duel with Yugi Moto."

*A duel with Yugi? How could you possibly duel him, if you don't even know where he is?*

"That's why I'm going to send a search team to find him. Knowing Yami, he will also send a search team to find Yugi, but my men will find him first. One second."

Seto pushed a button on his wrist watch communicator and shouted, "This is your boss, Seto Kaiba. You all are going on a search mission for Yugi Moto. Use whatever transportation necessary to find him. Once you find him, knock him out, capture him and bring him to me in my personal office. You have seven days to find him. He is somewhere in the urban parts in Cairo, New Egypt. If you can't find him within those seven days, you'll all be fired. Start the search now!"

Seto pressed the button on his wrist watch communicator again, reached the end of the hallway, which led to an elevator. He put his thumb on a fingerprint detector, as well as looking into an eye identification processor, which allowed for the elevator to unlock. He stepped inside the elevator and it closed automatically. The elevator arrow was pointing down, so Seto was going down some 50 levels because his personal office is at the top floor.

"Okay I'm back Bakura, you still there?"

*Yes, I'm still here.*

"Here's the plan. Once my men bring me Yugi, I'm going to force him to duel me. He can't leave until after the duel. If he wins, we will let him free to go. If I win, I will take his millennium puzzle, take his title of King of Games, and have my men beat him. Remember, I still want my blue eyes white dragon cards back, and knowing Yugi he doesn't have them with him."

*Well, then the only other person that may have them is...?*

"Yami, which I'm going to black mail him into giving me my cards back. He'll have 3 hours to bring them to me at the special dueling arena. By the time he gets here, I would have won the duel with Yugi and my men would have beaten him. So, if he doesn't bring them to me in time, my men will annihilate Yugi, permanently."

Bakura's spirit was shocked from hearing that, but kept quiet about it.

The elevator doors opened and Seto exited them, as he entered an extremely huge dueling room. He was walking towards the riser as he said to Bakura

"It will be the ultimate revenge Bakura. Nothing will stop me from becoming the new King of Games!"

This is where he smirked and stepped onto the riser, as it lifted him up. He now had fists by his sides, raising his right fist up in triumph.

"Yugi will see and feel what I had to feel, the feeling of utter defeat. The feeling of having your dueling spirit broken! That's what I want him to feel!" He laughed manically, his risen fist now half covering his face.

"A corrupted young mind completely broken and annihilated! I will rise as the best duelist in the world! Beating him down as a duelist and a broken boy!" As he continued laughing, he calmed down as the minutes passed.

"And Yami will see...what the fruit of his foolishness has reaped before him."

Bakura's spirit was shocked from hearing all of that, and turned off his wrist watch communicator immediately. He didn't even want to look at it, as he struggled to take it off his wrist, and then threw it on the floor.

"It seems as though Seto wants more than to just defeat Yugi...he wants to murder him."

Thus, with him going straight to sleep and the others staying in guest rooms, Yami was recovering in the Palace's hospital. He managed to sleep, but all he could think about was Yugi. He had asked before he was put in the infirmary for a search team to find Yugi and bring him back safely.

But safe, doesn't necessarily mean sound.


	38. Deep Alleviation

The next morning Yami woke up feeling physically okay. As the medical doctors checked him out, he went straight to his bedroom. It was 7:00 a.m., so the others were still asleep; they were all tired from yesterday night's stressful incident. When he closed the doors, he went to his bed and gently fell on his knees.

Yami was going to try to ask God for forgiveness. Arms on the bed, hands folded and head down in submission, Yami closed his eyes and thought on last night. He remembered the shocking sight that was on top of him, Yugi crazed and ready to stab him with a hand blade. It stayed fresh in his memory, but it changed to the memory of him screaming at Sababah for trying to touch him. That also stayed fresh in his mind. Feeling guilt and sorrow, Yami took a deep breath in before saying to God what he needed to say.

"Please...if there is any God out there, I need to say this. I realize what I have done wrong, I recognize my faults. I just don't want to feel any more pain! Please, I am so sorry; I apologize for what I have done! Please forgive me, I don't know where to turn or who to turn to!" He was going to cry, but he kept it in.

"I know that there is a God out there, I just know there is. There has to be...there has to, no matter what."

He took some deep, slow breaths before opening his eyes and getting up from the floor. When he was standing up, for some reason he felt tremendously better. He felt better emotionally, physically, mentally and...spiritually.

Now a small smile across his face, he turned to his closet and took out his Pharaoh clothing, since he was still in his PJ's from staying at the hospital last night. Once he changed, he walked over to the big window that took almost one whole wall in his room.  
Pulling a handle that would open the white curtains, the shining light of the sun blazed its warm into his bedroom. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the lighting he took some steps back to see the full beauty of the scenery before him.

Out there, in the urbanized parts of the city, the pyramids golden bricks reflected the suns light. The technology based pyramids had a glossy silver shine to their metallic man made bricks. Both the two largest pyramids, one of ancient old, one of futuristic new, both their light collided up high in the middle of the sky. Yami took in the beauty before him, and thanked God for everything He has given him.

He longed for Yugi to be able to see such a breath taking sight with him.


	39. Signs of the Future

It's been 3 days since the incident at the wedding, and Yami's search team has found no signs of Yugi yet. An odd coldness cooled the night sky at the Palace, and Yami was having trouble sleeping due to the cold. Unable to fall back asleep, he sat up and rubbed his eyes to help him fully wake up. A light sound of wind was outside, like flurries of cold wind was just outside his big window. Wanting to see what was outside, he put his night robe on that was hanging on a coat rack next to his bed, and put on his white flats.

"Hmm, what is that outside?" he mumbled to himself, striding to the grand window's handle to open the curtains. With both hands, he pulled the handle down, which allowed for the curtains to be opened. When he walks back a little to see the whole view of outside, a historical sight was before him.

Snow was gracefully falling from the sky, cold winds blowing throughout the entire city. The city was drizzled with a blanket of snow, which covered the great pyramids.

Yami was in awe, mouth agape at the beauty and wonder of the little white crystals called snow. He was so in awe, he couldn't say anything, just stare at the beauty of New Egypt covered in snow.

Just then, a thick and cold fog covered the grand window, making it very hard to see anything outside. This made Yami raise an eyebrow, for he noticed the fog was beginning to clear in the shape of letters. The letters cleared to words, the words to phrases, and then the phrases...to a Bible verse.

In the cleared fog on the window, Yami backed away and read the following Bible verse that appeared on the grand window:

Psalms 51: 1-2, 6-7

God, be merciful to me because you are loving.  
Because you are always ready to be merciful, wipe out all my wrongs.  
Wash away all my guilt and make me clean again.  
You want me to be completely truthful, so teach me wisdom.  
Take away my sin, and I will be clean.  
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

A deep feeling entered Yami, for he was so touched by the miracle before him, he realized he was touched by the love and forgiveness of God. Something in his heart told him to go to the Grand Garden outside, so he bursted open the doors and ran at top speed.

Once outside he quickly treaded down the steps and fell on his knees, grasping the soft snow. His head was down to the ground, leaning over to see up close the grace of the snow.

"Whiter than snow...then, I was forgiven?"

"You're awake, Yami?" asked a curious yet gentle voice to him. Yami quickly lifted his head up, and saw Sababah standing next to a bush, hands in front, feeling the falling snow.

"Sababah, how long have you been out here?"

"About twenty minutes...I think. How long have you been awake?"

Yami's eye lashes fluttered, which shows that he was thinking.

"Uh, I'm not sure." he half said, half mumbled.

Sababah simply smiled, now looking at the snow far away in the city.

"Hmm, I see. It's beautiful, isn't it? God's wonderful, cold creation called snow."

Yami was now getting up, hugging himself since he was very cold.

"It is, Sababah. It is." He then walked over to Sababah, standing next to him and watched the flakes gently fall from the sky.

All of a sudden, Yami heard a whispering voice pass over him from the sky, down.

"Yami..." The voice echoed.

"Huh? Did you say something Sababah?"

"What? No Yami, I didn't."

Yami heard the voice again, only this time it was a little louder.

"Yami..." the voice whispered again.

"There it is again." said Yami quickly.

Sababah was now glancing at Yami, who seemed very intently listening for the voice.

"Yami...do not be afraid...I am the Lord all Mighty, who you prayed to for forgiveness."

Yami's heart raced, as he blurted out

"What do you mean do not be afraid?"

The voice became very clear and loud.

"There will be evil ringing in very soon. Do not be afraid of this evil, for if you follow and obey my wisdom, you will not be harmed. The one that embraces the power of technology will kill the one you hold dear to you, the one you have lost. Whatever happens, do not kill him for revenge. Doing so goes against my commandments. Follow my wisdom, Yami, and you will save the one you have lost."

Just then, the voice faded away and Yami felt a sudden rush of spiritual energy through him, only for an instant, and then leave.

"The one...that embraces the power of technology, will be ringing in very soon. The one you have lost...Yugi? Then who is the one that embraces the power of technology?" said Yami to himself.

"Um, Yami I think you should be getting to sleep. It's two in the morning. See you later." Sababah said, then waved goodbye while walking back inside the palace to go to bed.

Yami waved, and also went back inside. When he closed his room door and looked at the window, the curtain was closed and the wind stopped.

So, Yami went back to bed, still wondered at everything that's happened.

Yami fell asleep right away, but he did not dream at all.


	40. Blackmailed

3 days have passed since the night Yami first saw snow in New Egypt. Thus, making it 6 days since Yugi ran away at the wedding.

One morning Yami was sitting in the throne room with all the others, discussing about Yugi.

"It's been six days already since the wedding," exclaimed Yami to his friends. "And the search team has not found Yugi yet." He sat with his legs crossed, hugging himself self-consciously, and thinking about what he saw in the fog the other night.

"We have to find Yugi before he gets hurt!" said Joey with strength and authority. He and the others were sitting on the steps that led to the throne.

"No," disagreed Yami, looking away from them. This made Joey turned around completely, surprise on his face. "the search team will find him. As Pharaoh I cannot allow any of you to be harmed out there. I... I can't allow Yugi to harm any of you."

Joey was ridiculed and said, "What? Why would Yugi harm any of us? He would never do that!"

"Yes he would Joey; with his mental state corrupted he would do what it takes to be alone and away from another human being."

"You're crazy! Yugi is not corrupted! He's our friend and-"

"Silence Joey! Pharaoh speaks!" shouted Yami as he immediately stood up, anger flaring in his eyes.

Everyone went silent from that, and Joey seemed very hurt. Yami realized what he said, and guilt poured out all over his face. He began to sob and fell on his knees. He covered his face with open palms, saying over and over.

"Oh, God! God! Why!? Why!? Yugi!" Everyone watched and kept silent, but Tea was the voice of reason.

"Yami...it's not your fault Yugi ran away. He was confused and wanted to get away from it all, but you didn't do anything wrong." She walks over to him, bends down and holds her hand out to him. He slowly uncovered his face, a spark of innocence in his amethyst eyes. He took her hand and she pulled him up.

"Yugi will be okay, as long as we have hope. So please, don't cry Yami." She wrapped her arms around him, catching him off guard and gave him a kiss on the forehead. His eyes shined and were very large and innocent, taking in the moment, the unforsakeable trust. She wiped his tears, and he was about to give her a kiss back, until his cell phone was ringing. He froze, took out his cell phone and answered it.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Good morning Yami, this is Seto Kaiba speaking."

He twitched from hearing that.

"Seto...Seto Kaiba!?"

Everyone gasped, all except for Bakura, whose face was quite expressionless at the moment.

"That's right Yami, and I have someone that you hold very dear to. He's knocked out at the moment, so he doesn't know how long it's been since he was last awake. I never noticed how small and innocent he appears in such a state; too bad he's all beaten up, heh."

Hearing Seto say that in such a slow manner, emphasizing the words small and innocent, sent a chill of fear up Yami's spine.

"Kaiba, you've captured Yugi?!"

"That's right, and the poor little thing lost to a duel against me. The conditions were simple: If he wins, I would let him go. If I win, which I did, my men will beat him, which they have. Don't worry; he has no broken bones, not yet. If he wakes up again, it will be my turn to take delight into beating him, though he may not wake up a second time."

Yami heard Seto laughing, and yelled in the phone

"Seto I won't let you get away with this!"

"Ah now, Yami. Don't be such a cynical fool, you have so much hidden potential; I bet you haven't even noticed the patterns of Yugi's strengths and weaknesses!"

Yami winced at the air of familiarity in the tone in Seto's voice. It was the same tone he had when he first dueled Seto in Kaibaland.

"Tell me where you're keeping Yugi, now!" Yami yelled in the phone.

"Of course Yami, that's the whole point I called you. I'm at Kaiba Corporations Master Dueling Arena, an arena I made especially for my duel with Yugi. You can come for him and I will let you have him, but ONLY if you retrieve to me my blue-eyes white dragon cards, and your millennium puzzle. You have three hours to bring those items to me. The Master Dueling Arena is at the lowest floor underground. I'll even let my men allow you to pass through, but I only want YOU to be in the arena. If you bring any of your friends, my men will lock them up forever, and let them rot."

Yami gripped the phone very tightly, fear and anger flashed in his eyes.

"I'm coming for you Kaiba! You'll regret the day that you hurt my friend Yugi!"

"So I see, but is he really your friend? Why, after all you've put the poor boy through, taking his body, his freedom and his girl, I don't recall those acts to be acts of friends, Yami."

Those words cut through Yami right in the heart, and it showed greatly on his face; a face of regret and anger swiftly showed on Yami's face, hearing Seto hang up the call. He was frozen like that for half a minute, the others, even Tea, were to afraid to ask what Seto had said to him.

Yami, though hurt very deeply, was not going to give up on Yugi.


	41. Flight

The silence was broken when Yami snapped out of his fear and put his cell phone away.

"Everyone, there's a lot to explain but I'm going to be blunt. Seto Kaiba has captured Yugi, and we need to bring him his two eyes white dragon cards back and my millennium puzzle in less than 3 hours."

They all seemed slightly surprised, but decided to follow Yami out of the throne room and down the far end of the hallway to a large door.

Yami immediately opened the doors and inside was a safety vault to store valuables. He took a small key out of his side pocket and opened the safety vault. The others seemed curious, and noticed the only thing in the vault was Seto's two blue eyes white dragon cards, sitting on a pedestal. Yami took the cards and locked the safety vault.

"Everyone, follow me to the main military base, we're going on a jet to save Yugi." shouted Yami as he busted open the doors, running to the main military base outside.  
The others realized the importance of the situation, and followed Yami, also running to the main military base.

When they reached the main military base, Yami proceeded to talking to the head general, asking for the fastest jet available.

"Of course your majesty, right away." answered the head general, leading them to the jet.

As they were walking to the jet, Tea noticed how serious Yami looked, and the others started to look more serious as well. Bakura was still expressionless, and she couldn't figure out why. She herself felt somewhat courageous about the situation, but also astonished. There were so many unanswered questions spinning in her mind; she decided to save them for later.

The jet was average size, a little polished at the surface, with the New Egypt symbol embellished on its front quarters. The New Egypt symbol was basically a white star inside a shiny golden triangle. The head general and the others reached the jet. The head general told them a little about the jet and its weaponry.

"This is the fastest jet we have your majesty. It comes with lock on missiles of all types. I hope it suits to your liking. Have a safe trip." The head general saluted, and walked off to continue training the newbie soldiers.

Joey and Tristen realized what the head general just said when they were entering the jet. They realized Yami had picked a jet with missiles, so they wondered if they're trip really was going to be safe.

Once they were all boarded the jet, Yami and Sababah took the pilot seats and prepared for flight. Both of them put on their seat belts, grabbed their headsets, and turned them on. Yami told the others through his head set, which the sound went out through the speakers in the passenger area, to sit down together and buckle up.

"This is Yami guys, and I need you all to get buckled up and ready for flight. Just sit back and relax. If anything happens just stay calm, Sababah and I will handle it. Understand?"

They all nodded their heads and Joey shouted

"Heard ya loud and clear, Captain Yami."

This caused Joey and the others to giggle, and in response Yami playfully rolled his eyes. Yami took a deep breath, and then said to them through his headset

"Everyone, we're starting for takeoff. We only have 3 hours to save Yugi, so do whatever it takes to keep calm."

They all looked at each other, exchanging confident glances.

Placing his hands on the steering wheel, he shouted to his friends,

"We're off to save Yugi!" Thus, the jet began to start on the ground going fast, and faster, and faster, and faster, until it soared off the ground and into the sky.

The clock is ticking, and Yami is prepared for anything Kaiba may throw at him to stop him from saving Yugi. Yami is not afraid; for he knows that in the end, he will reunite with the one person he has blood tied loyalty to...Yugi Moto.


	42. Wrecked Flight

After about an hour of traveling by jet to Kaiba corporations, Joey began to start getting really bored. Tristen was listening to music on his phone, Bakura was looking out the window, Tea was humming to herself, and Joey was bored out of his mind.

"How long until we get to Kaiba Corporations?" Asked Joey to Tristen, who took one of his ear buds out rather quickly.

"Huh? Oh, Joey I'm not sure. I believe it's only been an hour, so we'll have to wait another hour and 45 minutes or something."

"Ah man, for real? Come on, we've all been waitin for a long time, why can't we just go faster?"

Tristen shrugged his shoulders in response, then positively said,

"Don't worry Joey, we'll get there when we get there."

In the pilot's control room Yami was entirely focused on controlling the jet, not looking away even for a split second. Sababah was also concentrated on the controls, but felt a strange disturbance, a thought crossed his mind. He decided to ask Yami how he was feeling. Sababah cleared his throat and said while still focusing on the controls.

"Excuse me Yami, ah, Pharaoh...how are you feeling?"

Yami glanced at him, noticing the worry on his face.

"Well, I'm okay, just focused. You can just call me Yami, although I am pharaoh as of now, due to Yugi not wanting the throne anymore. I have confidence that Yugi will be okay and that we'll save him in time. You always told me to trust in God, so, why are you so worried?"

Sababah blinked and thought on it.

"I...I'm worried for you Yami. I can't bear seeing you sad or angry or depress-"

"But I'm not sad or angry or depressed, am I? I'm glad that you care, Sababah. My friends can only say so many kind words to me, but I'm happy to have you as a friend as well."

A wide smile appeared on Sababah's face, feeling his spirits lifted high, until he glanced down at the screen which shows what's following or coming towards the jet. His eyes widened when he saw two missiles, about 5,000 feet away, heading straight for them.

"Yami, look!"

Yami immediately turned his head set on and said to the others

"Everyone, this is an emergency. Please be buckled down to your seats and remain calm, there are two missiles coming straight toward us."

Hearing that snapped everyone into action, making sure their seat belts were on, and they quickly put away their things.

"Missiles are headed towards us!? No way! We're gonna die!" shouted Joey to the others.

"We're not gonna die Joey, Yami will fix it!" replied Tea quickly while double checking her seat belt.

They all screamed when the jet twirled a full 360 degrees to avoid the missiles. Because of that, when the missiles passed the jet they collided with each other and exploded. Yami and Sababah were struggling to keep the jet in balance from the explosion behind them; the jet was wobbly and hard to control. Sababah quickly found the coordinates of the missiles and pin pointed where they were coming from.

"Yami, the missiles are being launched from the United States in Domino City!" He shouted over the loud explosion behind their jet.

Yami gritted his teeth while saying

"It's Seto Kaiba! He's either trying to stop us from saving Yugi..." He stop in the middle of his sentence to turn the jet at its side, barely missing another two missiles. The others in the passenger area were screaming when they heard another explosion, only this time the explosion barely almost hit the back of the jet.

"...or he's trying to kill us all!" shouted Yami over the booming explosion.

"Yami, do you want me to shoot him back-"

"Don't shoot him, shoot the missiles as soon as possible! We don't want them to hit the jet!" Sababah immediately pressed a button, which allowed for their lock on target missiles to be ready to fire.

"Sababah, fire the missiles at my command, understand?"

"Yes sir!"

Tea was holding Bakura's hands, squeezing it tightly in fear. Bakura kept his eyes closed, not wanting to see his death. Joey covered his ears and also kept his eyes tightly shut. Tristen bit his lip and was hugging himself tightly. Just then the jet shifted down to avoid an explosion above them. The debris from the explosion fell in the Atlantic water, since they were flying from the Atlantic Ocean to the United States.

Sababah was prepared for Yami's first command as they both saw four more missiles heading toward them at top speed.

"Ready...aim..." Shouted Yami, waiting for just the right moment to fire the missiles back at the missiles towards them.

"...fire!"

Sababah pressed the button the instant Yami commanded him, and four missiles collided with the ones aimed for them. The jet shifted back up high in the air, the explosion behind causing a huge wave to come up from the crystal waters. Once they were back in the air, Yami managed to be in full control of the jet again.

"Alright Sababah, I think those are all the missiles. We can slow down the jet-"

"No Yami, look at the radar!"

Yami was shocked to see a total of 10 missiles heading for them, 3,000 feet away.

The others were scared half to death, Joey was hyper ventilating, but Tea had courage and took her seat belt off. She shouted to them

"Guys, take your seat belts off and hold hands! Don't let go and hold on tight, I have a feeling this jet won't last much longer!"

They immediately got up and were holding hands, forming a circle, not letting go.

"Please, I don't wanna die!" Shouted Joey in agony.

"We're not going to die Joey! We have to have hope!"

Yami was struggling to find the right time to launch their missiles, but he noticed that the missiles were headed toward them were coming faster and faster.

"Ready..."

Sababah readied the missiles...

"...aim..."

...He aimed the missiles straight toward the ones coming to the jet...

"FIRE!" Shouted Yami, ready to see them fire off.

The moment they could see the missiles heading towards the ones coming to them, they both sprinted out and busted open the door, running to their friends...but they were too late.

The deafening explosion of 20 missiles colliding with each other busted the jet in two, with Tea, Tristen, Bakura and Joey clenching each other's hands to stay together as they fell out of the exploded jet.

Screaming at the top of their lungs, they were falling, still holding hands to form a circle so that they could fall not as harshly and fast.

Yami was knocked out being held by Sababah as they both fell out of the jet, endlessly falling. Sababah did not want to see his friends die and knew that God would make a miracle happen.

Sababah then forced himself to stop falling, and he was floating in the air, still holding Yami. He saw the others were still all together, but Joey was losing his grip.

In an instant, Sababah was flying at top speed to them, and woke up Yami by yelling

"Yami- we're falling!"

Yami opened his eyes in shock, as his body recognized he was in the sky, not in the jet. He saw the others and yelled to them

"Tristen, Joey, give me your hands!" Yami was reaching out to them; Tristen managed to grab Yami's left hand, but Joey failed to and his grip slipped.

Joey was falling by himself to the surface of the ocean.


	43. There Can Be Miracles

An adrenaline rush flowed though Joey, feeling his heart racing like crazy, his vision blurred and hearing a high pitched shriek-like sound from falling. Falling and spinning in different directions, Joey was too shocked to even scream. Out of everything to think about before he might die, he thought of his little sister Serenity. He pictured her smiling at him and telling him that she loves him.

His seemingly endless falling was stopped when he was abruptly caught by the back of the collar by Sababah. In that very instant, that very moment, Joey and the others felt incredibly light, almost as light as a feather, God had allowed for Sababah to give them the ability to float in midair. They all willingly stopped holding each other's hands, and they were all floating in midair. Once they're bodies adjusted to regular adrenaline levels, they all looked at each other in amazement.

"Thank you God, for making a miracle happen," whispered Sababah to himself. "Thank you for saving us all."

"We're...alive? Oh yeah we're alive!" joyfully shouted Joey and Tristen in unison, all of them in one big group hug. Once they all finished their shouts of joy and laughter, Yami asked Joey

"Joey, how much time do we have to save Yugi?"

"Uh, we have...half an hour."

"Half an hour!? How are we going to make it on time!?"

"Do not worry Yami; I know that we will make it on time, because God will allow for it to happen." Calmly said Sababah, which made Yami calm down somewhat.

"But...how?" pleaded Yami.

"I can teleport, remember? What if we all hold hands, and I, somehow, can teleport us all there?"

Yami blinked twice. He remembered Sababah's God given talents, and decided to agree on the idea.

And so, they were all holding hands, they closed their eyes and focused on Yugi.  
In what seemed like a millisecond, they felt the rush of teleportation, of traveling through the vortex of space, and ended up right at the front doors to Kaiba Corporation. The exact moment they opened their eyes, they were all standing in their little circle on the concrete ground in Domino City.

"Everyone, we're here." said Sababah to them, as they let go of each other, taking in the realization of what just happened.

"Did we...did we just teleport?" Exclaimed Bakura; even he was surprised at what Sababah was capable of.

"That's right, and now we're half an hour early to save Yugi. Let's go!" Shouted Yami, running towards the large technology based doors of Kaiba Corporation. They all followed him, and Yami banged on the doors, shouting,

"Seto Kaiba, this is Yami! I've come for Yugi! Let us in!"

There was a silence, and they heard through speakers near the front door

"I'm more than surprised that you lived Yami, I'm appalled that you lived. Well done in passing your first test."

Great surprise showed on Yami's face, answering roughly

"Test? What test? Just let us in Kaiba!"

"You managed to successfully survive against my strongest missiles, and bring your trouble making friends with you. Oh, and I won't let them in, just you. I already have invisible lasers pointed at their heads, so if they move even an inch, they will be shot in an instant. The moment the doors are opened and only one person enters, the lasers will disappear."

Yami smirked, shouting to Kaiba

"You just watch and learn, Kaiba. My bodyguard here is the fastest, strongest man alive. No laser can shoot him in time for him to bust open these doors."

"Oh really? What human being is fast and strong enough to out run a laser-"

In less than a millisecond, Sababah ran up the doors and busted the open with his forearms, entering inside the building. The lasers made a beep noise to notify that they've been turned off. Everyone ran inside, not sparing even the slightest bit of time.  
Seto Kaiba was shocked, as he gritted his teeth, anger all over his smug face.

He yelled in a fit of rage, stomping his foot on the cold stone floor in the Master Dueling Arena. Little Yugi was lying on the cold stone floor barely hanging on to the thread of life. His clothes was completely tattered, blood here and there on his body, broken ribs and bones, and a hard concussion.

Yami could almost feel Yugi's pain, sprinting as fast as he could with the others down the hallway. Once they reached the staircase that would lead them to the Master Dueling Arena underground, Yami took some steps back. This caused the others to stop running, wondering why he stopped. He ran as fast as he could, jumped as high as he could, and was falling fifty feet down the staircase, all the way down to the bottom floor. This caused the others to gasp, all except for Sababah.

Right before Yami would crumble on the ground; he did a skill roll, which allowed for him to land safely on the floor.

The others were very shocked that Yami could do such a thing, but continued running down the stairs to the bottom floor. When they reached the door that would lead to the Master Dueling Arena, they saw Yami kicking the door, which was made of steel. It also was locked, and Yami glanced at Sababah, who in response nodded his head. Yami and Sababah were back to back, as they both kicked the door open, the door slammed down to the ground.

Yami was ready to see Yugi again.


	44. The Death of Innocence

Yami felt a shot of pain in his heart, as he saw in a distance Yugi dying on the floor. He immediately took Kaiba's two blue eyes white dragon cards out of his pocket and threw them to Kaiba, who snatched them immediately, smirking at Yami's pain. Yami ran to Yugi's side, the others also running to Yugi.

"Yugi! Oh, Lord..." shuttered Yami, on his knees, hugging Yugi with great trembling.

"Ya...mi..." whispered Yugi, eyes beginning to close.

"No, no Yugi! Don't die! Don't die! I can't live without you! Please..." Yami laid his hand on Yugi's cheek, gently rubbing his face. He began to sob, cry, and feel all torn up inside.

"...don't cry Yami. It was my fault, it was...my...fault." whispered Yugi. Joey was going to also be near Yugi, but Yami motioned his hand up to stop Joey. Tea covered her mouth when she noticed all the blood over Yugi's stomach; he looked like boy that was beaten a thousand times, over and over again.

"No Yugi, it was not your fault, it was never your fault, and it's my fault! My...fault." Yami couldn't bear it any longer, he just wanted to die. To not feel pain, to just die and be with Yugi forever...but he knew that doing so would gain nothing.

"Yami, tell the others...that I love them...tell my Grandpa and dad...that I love them. Yami..." Yugi's voice was barely audible, and Yami had to get close to Yugi's mouth to hear him.

"Yugi? Yugi what is it!?"

Yugi's eyes were shining, and a small, innocent smile was across his face, as he said his last words...

"Yami...I will always be with you. I will always...love...you...from the bottom...of...my...heart."

Yugi's eyes were now completely closed, peace brightening his scarred, blood stained face. He died feeling at peace, seeing the one person that he loves the most before his death.

Sobbing and sobbing, screaming Yugi's name over and over, Yami's heart was...broken.

Seto Kaiba laughed in full dismay of it all.

Joey and Tristen were sobbing, Bakura was shocked, and Tea covered her mouth, still in shock. Sababah wanted to cry, but it was he who needed to stay strong among them. He has to, because no one else will. Joey fell on all fours, banging his fist on the cold stone floor.

"It's not fair! It's not fair!" Shouted Joey over and over, still banging his fist on the ground. Yami was hugging Yugi's dead corpse, not wanting to accept the fact the he was dead.

"Yugi, we're going to get you better! We'll take you to the hospital, so the doctors can help you wake up! Wake up Yugi! Wake up!"

"He's dead you fool." shouted Kaiba, feeling accomplished and mighty, arms crossed, looking down on Yami. Yami stopped crying and weeping, as he slowly lifted his head, completely vulnerable to Kaiba.

"You've passed test two, Yami. You actually managed to get to Yugi, and see him pass away. Let's see if you can pass test three..." Kaiba was laughing, pure evil written all over his face.

Tea shouted to Seto,

"Seto, you monster! How could you kill Yugi!?"

Seto ignored her, waiting for Yami to attack him. Yami stood up, all forms of hate for Kaiba covered by sadness for Yugi.

"As much as I hate you Kaiba, as much as I want to hurt you, I can't. It's not the right thing to do. You know something Kaiba? There is a God."

Hearing this made Seto feel uncomfortable. The thought of there being a God made him feel small and weak.

"Oh, really? If there really is a God, then why hasn't that God brought Yugi back to life?"

"Yugi was a martyr, Kaiba. You will feel the flames of retribution very soon."

Kaiba simply shrugged his shoulders and walked out, heading back to his personal office, but before he left, he said to Yami

"Congratulations Yami, you've passed the third test. I would have sworn you would have attacked me; I guess you're just too weak."

And thus, Kaiba left them and headed to the elevator, going back to his personal office.  
With his head down, Yami carefully picked up Yugi and turned to the others.

"We have to take him to the hospital guys. We can still help him; the doctors can wake him up."

The others were silent, but Joey seemed to be thinking otherwise.

"Yami, as much as we also want him to be alive again, he's...he's dead." said Joey with grief in his voice.

Tea looked around, and noticed that Bakura was not in the room.

"Um, guys? Where's Bakura?" She asked nervously.

"Never mind that Tea, our first priority is getting Yugi to the hospital. We can't give up on Yugi." Yami said that very calmly, and was walking out of the Master Dueling Arena. Joey got up from the ground, as they all stopped weeping and were following Yami.


	45. The Core of It

Seto Kaiba couldn't bear the feeling of guilt he had while opening the door to his personal office. He had never killed, more or less murdered anyone before just for simple pleasure. As sick and awful he felt, his cards seemed to be telling him otherwise.

He immediately locked the door, as he shrugged his guilt off by shouting

"I am the King of Games! No one can stop me; no one can ever beat me in a duel!"

The lights were completely off in his personal office, besides his desk lamp, and his huge curtains were closed shut.

Now sitting on his big chair at his desk, he placed his cards on the polished wood surface of his desk.

"I finally have back what's rightfully mine, and I've gotten rid of the one person I can't stand. What else is there for me to do?"

"...You can give me the Millennium Puzzle." whispered a voice from the shadows behind him, which freaked Kaiba out.

"Huh? Who's there?"

In what seemed like dark purple blackness coming from the shadows, Evil Bakura and the Pharisees retrieved out of the shadows, serious looks on their faces.

"Oh, it just you." mumbled Kaiba, admiring his cards, their reflective surface gleaming in the light.

"We made a deal, Seto Kaiba. You get your cards and Yugi's death; I get the Pharaoh and his Millennium Puzzle. So, why haven't you retrieved him and the Millennium Puzzle to me?"

Kaiba laughed while saying

"You idiot, like I would actually keep my part of the deal. I'm a business man; I don't keep my side of the deal."

Evil Bakura smirked, his arms crossed.

"In that case, I guess you'll have to face the consequences from my men here."

"Oh really? What can a bunch idiot men like them do to me?" mocked Kiaba, now looking at Evil Bakura straight in the eyes.

"Pharisees, send this mortal to the Shadow Realm." commanded Evil Bakura, his tone of voice more hefty than usual.

"The Shadow Realm?!" Seto immediately stood up and dropped his cards.

Next thing Seto knew, two of the six Pharisees were behind him and grabbed his arms.

"What!? Noooo!" shouted Kaiba, seeing a dark portal open before him, and was picked up to be thrown into the Shadow Realm.

"I'm terribly sorry Kiaba," began Evil Bakura,

"but I had already made a pact with the Pharisees beforehand. They came to me during your duel with Yami at Kaibaland, but of course they were talking to me through mind messaging. They told me to make a deal with the one who embraces the power of technology, and to wait for the innocent child of New Egypt to die."

Seto was flabbergasted. "You mean...you knew exactly what was going to happen? You knew that Yami would synchronize with Yugi, that Tea would fall in love with him, that I would duel Yugi and kill him, and that I would refuse to give you the Pharaoh and the Millennium Puzzle!?"

Evil Bakura grinned deviously.

"That's right, you foolish mortal. You thought that I was being used by you, but it was actually you that was being used by me!" He began to laugh, hiding no true feelings of mockery to Kaiba.

Seto was too shocked by it all, he couldn't even speak.

Evil Bakura stopped laughing, his face more serious than before.

"Enough of this. Once you're in the Shadow Realm, I'm going to duel Yami at the Master Dueling Arena, win the duel, throw him in the Shadow Realm, take his Millennium Puzzle and become the dictator of New Egypt."

Right before Seto was going to say something, he was thrown into the depths of the portal...and into the Shadow Realm. The portal closed, and the Pharisees said their farewells to Evil Bakura. They had no other purpose in the mortal world, so they left back to the afterlife where they came from.

Silence filled the room, and Evil Bakura glanced at the desk. He walked to it and picked up the two blue eyes white dragon cards.

"These will come in handy later, now all I have to do is sense for Yami's presence." While putting the cards in his shirt pocket, he closed his eyes and concentrated on Yami's energy.

"He's at the hospital in Yugi's room with the others." he mumbled to himself, opening his eyes and walking to the door.

Bakura left to go see Yami and the others.


	46. The Final Duel Part 1

There was a silence between Yami and the others, and Yami was standing by Yugi's bed, holding his cold lifeless hand. Joey and Tristen were sitting on a couch together with Tea standing next to them. As for Sababah, he was standing against the wall, arms crossed and looking away from everyone.

Tea glanced at Yami, and noticed how gentle he was touching Yugi's hand; she didn't know why, but she didn't like the serene, affectionate look Yami was giving Yugi. She almost felt jealous that Yami was being that way towards Yugi, but she had to remember that Yugi was dead. Yami though, remained thinking that Yugi was only in a blissful deep sleep.  
"When do you guys think he'll wake up? The doctors told me that he was dead, but he's asleep." asked Yami to the others.

Joey immediately spoke up, but sounded harsh and negative.

"Yami, I don't want to break your spirits, but you gotta except the fact the Yugi is dead. We can't bring him back; he's gone forever, dead."  
Yami's eyes grew large with pain, but he shook his head no in disapproval.

"No Joey, he's asleep. Yugi is just asleep-"

"Dang it, Yami! Yugi is dead, why can't you get that through your thick skull!? You're a freakin idiot!" shouted Joey with anger standing up and glaring at Yami. Tristen immediately shouted,

"Joey, how could say that-"

"Yugi is dead, and it's all you fault! Because of you, because of you Yugi is dead! This is your entire fault!" shouted Joey while pointing to Yami.

Joey clashed his teeth, Tristen foreseeing the anger and attack Joey was about to do on Yami.  
"YOU CORRUPTED MY BEST FRIEND!" Screamed Joey while running to Yami, about to punch him in the face, but stopped when Sababah teleported in front of him and grabbed his wrists.

"Enough Joey! We can't destroy each other for what cannot be fixed right now!" sternly said Sababah.

All anger in Joey was washed away with sadness, realizing what he almost did.  
Sababah let go of Joey, since he was no longer a threat to anyone. Joey glanced at Yami, who seemed to be thinking on something.

"Joey," began Yami, "I know that Yugi is dead, and I know that this is my entire fault. If I had not challenged Seto that rematch at Kaibaland, we wouldn't all be in this mess."

This is where Yami let go of Yugi's hand and walked to Joey, a gentle smile on his face. Holding his arms out for a hug, Yami calmly said to Joey,

"Come, you need a hug. I have open arms for you to find peace and rest in, Joey."

Hearing Yami say that made Joey almost cry, but he felt his strength restored and took himself in Yami's caring arms. Yami glanced at the others, his eyes telling them to start a group hug. They all smiled, feeling so much better now, as they ran to Yami and Joey, all in one group hug.

Moments later they heard someone slowly clapping near the door, which made them all let go and turn to the door.  
It was Yami Bakura.

"Very touching, very touching indeed everyone." exclaimed Yami Bakura, walking towards Yami.

"Bakura? Where were you this whole time?" questioned Yami, the others allowing Bakura to stand in front of Yami.

Sababah felt a strange evil force, an impulse flowing through Yami Bakura, and realized that this was the evil spirit in Bakura controlling him.

"Yami, it's Yami Bakura, not your friend that you trust!" shouted Sababah, which made Yami twitch.

"What!?" exclaimed Yami, and heard Yami Bakura laughing very deviously.

"Your bodyguard is right, Yami. Besides, don't you want to hear the fascinating thing that I did to Seto Kaiba?"

"Fascinating thing, like what?"  
And so, Yami Bakura explained everything he's kept hidden from them, including throwing Seto into the Shadow Realm. Yami Bakura ended his monologue; he proposed a duelist's deal with Yami.  
The deal went like this:

Yami and Yami Bakura would duel at Kaiba Corporations Master Dueling Arena, the same place that Seto and Yugi dueled. If Yami wins, then Yami Bakura would free Seto from the Shadow Realm, and the evil spirit would leave Bakura for good. If Yami Bakura wins, then he would take Yami's Millennium Puzzle, throw him into the Shadow Realm and become the dictator of New Egypt.

Yami agreed to the deal and Yami Bakura teleported them all to the Master Dueling Arena, leaving Yugi at the hospital alone with the doctors.

Yami was ready to avenge Yugi's death.

The duel began right away, with Yami Bakura on the left hand side of the arena and Yami on the right hand side.

The others were standing by, ready to watch the duel that would set the fate of Yami, Yugi, Seto, Bakura, and New Egypt.

"Let's duel!" shouted Yami and Yami Bakura, they're dueling disks extended out, ready for use.

They both had 8000 life points to start the duel. The first turn started with Bakura laying the Insect Card Man-Eater Bug, with an Attack power of 450 and Defense of 600 face up in Attack Mode. Yami Bakura placed next to that a card face down, ending his turn.

Next Yami placed the Dark Magician, with an Attack power of 2500 and Defense of 2100 face up in Defense Mode, ending his turn. Yami Bakura had the Man-Eater Bug attack the Dark Magician, which lowered the Dark Magician's Attack Power to 2050.

Yami was surprised to see Bakura attack right away, and thought carefully on what he should draw next.  
Taking a look at the cards in his hand, Yami saw just the card he needed.

*The Mystic Box! Just the card that I need!*

"Bakura, I summon the Mystic Box, and have your Man-Eater Bug enter the box, allowing..."

Once the Man-Eater Bug entered the Mystic Box, it was destroyed by swords, and when the door opened, out came the Dark Magician, not a single scratch on him.

"...my Dark Magician to be unharmed!"

Yami Bakura banged his fist down, as his life points were reduced from 8000 to  
7550.

"Dang it! I had not anticipated that you would make such a risky move right off the bat!" grumbled Yami Bakura, looking down at his face down card on the field.  
Yami's friends were cheering on for him, which boosted his confidence tenfold.

"Well Yami, I turn my face down card, face up to reveal my trap card, Just Desserts!"

"Just Desserts? What is that?" asked Yami.

"This trap card inflicts 500 points of damage to your life points for each monster on your side of the field. So, because your Dark Magician is on your side of the field, you lose 500 life points!"

What Bakura said became true; the bear-like monster directly attacked Yami's life points, reducing it from 8000 to 7500.

Yami was surprised at that, and decided to lay one card face down on the field, ending his turn.

Yami Bakura noted that Yami didn't even bother putting a monster in Attack Mode with his face down card.

"It seems as though you are relying solely on what that face down card may be Yami." exclaimed Bakura, glancing at Yami's face down card.

Tea noted how confident Yami was, and that he seemed calm about everything. "I am confident that whatever card I have face down will serve me well." replied Yami, crossing his arms, a smile on his face.

"Feh," snapped Yami Bakura, "then let's see if you can take this, Pharaoh!"

Bakura took one card from his hand and placed it face up on the field in Attack Mode.  
"Behold, The Pharisees, with an Attack power of 900, and a Defense power of 850!"

Just then, the same Pharisees that Yami has seen before were Duel Monsters on the field, a dark purple aura around them.

"The Pharisees? How in the world are they Duel Monsters?" asked Yami, confused of it.

Bakura rolled his eyes, explaining

"The Pharisees is an ancient card, which is based off of the real Pharisees from ancient Egypt. Now, Pharisees, dark spell binding attack-"

"Hold it just right there, Bakura! I turn my face down card facing up to reveal Swords of Revealing Light!"

With speed faster than lightening, the swords of revealing light casted themselves around the Pharisees, making them unable to attack for three turns. "What!? Impossible!" shouted Yami Bakura, great surprise all over his face.

Yami's friends continued cheering him on, fueling his confidence and faith to keep going.

"Yeah, go Yami!" shouted Tristen.

"Keep going!" shouted Tea.  
"You can do it, Yami!" cheered Sababah.

"WOO-HOO! GO YAMI!" shouted Joey obnoxiously loud, throwing everyone off, including Yami Bakura.

"Thanks guys. Okay, now it's my turn, because you cannot attack Bakura!" declared Yami with great confidence, looking at Bakura straight in the eyes.

Bakura, though upset, began thinking of a plan.

*If I can't attack him for three turns, then there he would directly destroy my life points after he annihilates the Pharisees. There has to be a card that will restore my life points!* quickly thought Bakura to himself, nervous on how Yami may attack.

"Alright Dark Magician," began Yami "Dark Magic Attack!"  
The Dark Magician casted his hand to the Pharisees, allowing dark magic to engulf around them and destroy them. This brought Bakura's life points down from 7550 to 6650.

Bakura seemed more than just troubled, but he didn't show his anger directly on his face.  
His friends cheering for him once again, Yami felt as though everything was going just right.

Because Yami Bakura still can't attack, Yami took this opportunity to directly attack Bakura's life points. Using Chaos Scepter Blast, the Dark Magician blasted directly at Yami Bakura's life points.

Yami Bakura's life points were reduced from 6650 to 4600.

With once again Bakura unable to attack, Yami took this opportunity to strike at Yami Bakura's life points.

Dark Magic Blasts appeared out of the Dark Magician's hands, and he chucked them straight at Yami Bakura's life points.

Yami Bakura's life points were reduced from 4600 to 2550. This enraged Yami Bakura greatly, until he looked down at the cards in his hand and saw just what he needed.

*A spell card, this will turn the match around!* thought Yami Bakura, holding his card up.

"I play the spell card Cursed Twin Dolls!" shouted Yami Bakura to Yami.

"The Cursed Twin Dolls? What does that do?" asked Yami.  
Bakura explained,

"The Cursed Twin Dolls is a spell card that allows one box to be picked by each player. The cursed twin wearing red holds a red box, and the cursed twin wearing blue holds a black box. One of these boxes holds the ability to restore the life points of its chooser, and the other kills all monsters on the field of its chooser."

Yami thought hard on which box to pick, but he made his decision.

"Bakura, I pick the black box." exclaimed Yami.

As soon as Yami made his choice, the cursed twin in blue opened its box to Yami, and darkness bursted out of the box and destroyed Yami's Dark Magician.

This brought Yami's life points down from 7500 to 5450.  
Yami was shocked to see his Dark Magician gone in an instant, but kept his strength up for his friends.

Yami Bakura had no other choice but to pick the red box and his life points were immediately restored to 8000.

"Aha!" exclaimed Yami Bakura with self pride.  
Yami didn't see a card in his hand that could help him, so he wished that he would draw a card that would.

*I have to draw a card that will turn this match around!* desperately thought Yami to himself.


	47. The Final Duel Part 2

When Yami saw what he had drawn, he was more than surprised; he was shocked to see such a card in his deck.

*The Winged Dragon of Ra? When did I have a card as special as this in my deck?* thought Yami to himself.

"Enough of this you fool!" shouted Yami Bakura, "Because you're about to taste defeat by the blue eyes white dragon!"

Yami twitched when he heard that, and realized Bakura and stolen Seto's cards after he threw him into the Shadow Realm. Yami thought on it, and then his face changed to being calm and confident.

"What's with the confidence Yami? Is it too much for you to handle the awesome power of the blue eyes white dragons?" mocked Yami Bakura.

"No, I'm just wondering why they aren't on the field if you already summoned them." exclaimed Yami with his arms crossed, smiling.

Yami Bakura noticed this, and proceeded once again to summoning the blue eyes white dragon.

The monster did not appear on the field, which flabbergasted Yami Bakura into irritated confusion.

"Why isn't the monster coming out!?" shouted Yami Bakura, gripping the card very tightly with both hands.

"It's not being summoned, because the card isn't yours, it's Seto Kaiba's. When I took Seto's cards back when I dueled him in Kaibaland, I noticed that the cards could only be summoned by Seto Kaiba. How could you not see the Kaiba Corporations Logo at the bottom right corner of the card?"

Yami Bakura looked at the bottom right corner of the card, and what Yami said was true.

"That's...that's so stupid!" ranted Yami Bakura, throwing both of the blue eyes white dragon cards on the floor.

Yami's eyes shined with brilliance, as he shouted to Yami Bakura

"And now, I will summon the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

"The Winged Dragon of Ra? Good luck with that you fool," began Yami Bakura. "In order to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra, you need to chant the sacred summoning words, but you don't know them!" Shouted Yami Bakura, arms crossed.

Joey looked a little troubled, but the others seemed okay, especially Sababah.

"Hmm, I see." replied Yami to Yami Bakura.

Yami looked down at his card, and thought on what other way he could summon the card.

Just then, an idea hit him.

*As much as Duel Monsters is revolved around magic, if I play for God, not secular reasoning, then maybe God will make a miracle happen, like summoning the card! I need to talk to God about this, He needs to hear my concerns.*

"Bakura, there is another way to summon the card; I'm going to ask God for him to allow me to summon it, without the need of magic." said Yami, now placing the card down and folding his hands to pray.

"What!? That's insane- there is no God you fool!"

In first person view, Yami held his head down, closed his eyes, and focused solely on praying.

"Dear God, even though I do not fully know you yet, you know who I am. I'm praying to you Lord, because you do exist, you do love, and you do make miracles. I believe in you; I know that you are the Almighty Creator, that you sent you're one and only Son, Jesus Christ..."

Yami Bakura's eyes widened when he saw Yami beginning to cry, awestruck at his focus on God.

The others were also surprised to see Yami crying, but Sababah was smiling.

"...to die on the cross for the sins of us humans, to be tortured, beated and picked on, by the very same humans that You created. You're Son rose from the dead three days later, only to prove to the world that He died and rose again to save us from the depths of hell."

With great weeping, Yami right there and then, accepted Jesus Christ as his savior.

"I accept you as my Savior, Lord Jesus, and I ask you for help on summoning this card, but I give all the glory and honor to you, not the cards, not to my victory, only you Lord Jesus!"

Yami fell silent, as he was wiping his eyes, feeling completely changed on the inside. He felt the power of the Holy Spirit in him, and shouted to Bakura,

"By the power of God, I summon the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

Light was revealed from the card, allowing the five thousand year old card to be used, and the Winged Dragon of Ra was now on the field.

Its golden scales were shining bright as the sun, but something was different about the dragon. It didn't look evil; it looked like it was touched by the Holy Spirit's grace. It's Attack and Defense power was unknown, meaning it was practically infinite.

Yami Bakura was too shocked by it all to even say anything.

"Now Winged Dragon of Ra, attack Bakura's life points with Orb of Scorching Fire!"

A huge orb of scorching fire was created in the dragon's mouth, as it blasted the orb directly to Yami Bakura's life points.

The blast brightened the room, too blinding to take, as Yami Bakura's life points were dropping like a stone. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the blinding light. Once the room's light went back to normal, Bakura looked at his life points, completely horrified that it was zero.

Yami raised his hands, not in triumph, but in praise to God for allowing a miracle to happen. Joey, Tristen Tea and Sababah were shouting and cheering with joy, happy that Yami and won the duel.

Moments after that both Yami and Yami Bakura got off the dueling stage, and walked to each other, face to face.

Yami was the first to speak.

"A deal is a deal, Bakura."

"Yes, I know. You won, without the need of chanting with evil magic or secular intentions. How can I go against a power like that?"

Closing his eyes, Yami Bakura focused on Seto Kaiba's energy, and he appeared before them all, unharmed and safe.

"Wha? How am I back?" wondered Seto, looking around at everyone.

"Bakura challenged me to a duel, and I won. So, he freed you from the Shadow Realm. I didn't want you to suffer in such an awful place."

Seto was surprised but, he immediately started bawling tears of joy and was apologizing to Yami for murdering Yugi.

Yami accepted his apology, and turned to Yami Bakura.

Not wanting the break the deal, Yami Bakura left the real Bakura' body and returned to the Shadow Realm.

Ryo Bakura blinked, looking at Yami. He smiled and thanked Yami for freeing him of the terrible spirit, giving Yami the Millennium Ring. With only one thing left to do, Sababah teleported them all back to the hospital.

After all, Yugi was waiting for them.


	48. When You Believe

At the hospital Yami immediately dashed to Yugi, the doctors explaining that he was indeed dead.

Yami told the doctors that there was a way they could bring Yugi back to life. The doctors, however, didn't believe Yami and left the room, slamming the door in the process.

Seto Kaiba felt guilty when he saw Yugi, but he shook it off because he had already apologized.

"Yugi...my dear friend..." said Yami ever so softly, brushing the hair away from Yugi's closed eyes.

"...God will make a miracle happen, I just know it."

Yami turned to all of his friends, smiled and said,

"Everyone, I'm happy to say that there is ways that Yugi can come back to life, but only if you all agree to what I ask of you."

They all were open to listening to Yami, so Yami continued.

"I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, and miracles have happened because of Him. So, I want to share my faith in Jesus with you guys."

Tea was the first to speak up.

"So, you want us to become...Christian?"

"That's right. I'm not forcing you guys to, but I know in my heart that Jesus is the true Savior of humanity, and I want you guys to have that same salvation I now have."

Everyone looked at Joey, who was crying tears of joy, sniffling and everything.

"I'm sorry for being all emotional, but I'm just so happy to finally be at peace. Through my high school years, I felt so sad, but I'm finally happy and I'm ready to accept Jesus as my Savior!"

This made everyone smile, including Kaiba, as Yami said to them all

"Everyone, I want us to hold hands when you guys pray to God."  
Once everyone was holding hands, Yami asked Sababah to say some words to encourage them. He whole heartily agreed.

"Everyone, God has shown each of you what your purpose has been in your lives so far, and your purpose will change if you accept Jesus as your Savior. But change isn't always a bad thing, right? If you accept Jesus as your Savior, there will be many troubles during your time here on Earth, but in the end you will have the greatest reward of all, entry into heaven and perfect harmony. There can be miracles...when you believe. Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill."

This part caused Tristen and Seto to start crying, very softly and silently though.

"Who knows what miracles you can achieve, when you believe in Jesus. Somehow, you will. Now, you will."

Tea began to cry softly, feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit filling inside of her.  
"You will when you believe." and thus Sababah ended his words of encouragement, as they all took the time to talk to God and accept them as their Savior, eyes closed.

"Dear God," began Tea,

"my name is Tea Gardner, but you probably already knew that. All my life I've done what I could to help my friends and support them. I've helped my family as well, but I do see my flaws as being a sinner. Today, right here and right now, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that he rose from the dead three days later. I accept you Lord Jesus, as my loving Father in heaven and Savior. In your Son's name I pray, Amen."

"Dear Lord Jesus," began Joey,

"I haven't been the best person all my life, and I've been a street boy and a bully around school. I was even once a bully to Yugi, but he's dead now. If anything, I wish I could go back and tell my former self to not be that way. Even through the worst times, I've always been there for my friends and family, especially my little sister Serenity. Back when she was still little, she had eye surgery, and I was there for her, a little late though. I confess my sins and I recognize my sinful nature, Lord Jesus. I believe and accept you as my Savior, that you died on that big cross, and that you were raised by God three days later. I will follow your word and trust in you. Amen."

"Dear God," began Tristen,

"I've come to realize that I am a sinner here on Earth. I see my faults and I know that you do exist. So, I want to accept you as my Lord and Savior, for dying on the cross for our sins, and for being raised from the dead three days later. Thank you for making miracles happen, and for being such an awesome Creator. I give my life to serving you, God. Amen."

Seto took a deep breath before saying,

"Dear God, I come to you in prayer today. This guilty feeling of murdering Yugi cannot pass. I don't know if you love murderers, but I want to confess my sins and sinful nature. I see what my purpose in life is. My purpose is to create technology that will help people around the world to see your awesome power. I hope to create machines that will accelerate this world into a peaceful place. I hope to head a business that keeps their side of the deal. Most of all, I hope that you can forgive my sins and accept me as your new follower in Christ. I believe that you sent your son to die on the cross, and that you raised Him from the dead three days later. I will follow you and carry my cross, Lord Jesus. Amen."

Last, but not least, Bakura said,

"Dear heavenly Father, I come to you in prayer for forgiveness of my sins. I've been infused with dark spirits in my past, but thankfully those dark spirits have left me. I confess my sins, as many as they are, and accept you as my Lord and Savior. I believe that you died on the cross, and that you rose from the dead three days later. Amen."

The moment they let go and opened their eyes, Yugi's heart beat sensor picked up a pulse. Yami felt joy flow in his heart, as they all crowded around Yugi's bed. Eyes slowly opening, fingers beginning to move, Yugi Moto was raised from the dead by God.

"Yugi...are...are you really alive?" whispered Yami to Yugi, whose eyes were now completely open. Yugi sat up in full astonishment, but the good kind of astonishment.  
"I'm alive? Guys?" innocently said Yugi, his friends filled with joy and happiness.

"Yugi!" They all shouted in unison, giving him a big group hug.

"Whoa guys! I feel completely okay! My bones are back to normal, and I feel better than ever!" said Yugi as his friends allowed him to get off the bed and stand up.

"But how am I alive?" asked Yugi to his friends.

"God raised you from the dead Yugi." replied Yami, as he also said

"Everyone accepted Christ as their Savior, and as soon as we stopped praying, you had a heartbeat again. Yugi, God answered our prayers and made a miracle happen."

Yugi was very surprised by it all, and he looked at all of them, noticing Seto Kaiba.

"Seto?" said Yugi.

"Uh, Yugi how can I say this? I'm...I'm sorry." nervously said Seto, but was surprised when Yugi interrupted him and said

"Seto, I know that you're sorry, and I forgive you. What you did was bad, but you apologized and I know you won't do it again."

With Seto finally free of his guilt, Yugi Moto also accepted Jesus as his Savior, and all was well once again for our young duelists.

Sababah teleported them all back to the palace, were they would celebrate with a feast and much more.


	49. Breathtaking Beauty

When they all arrived in the grand dining room, the feast already prepared for them. Yugi realized that he wanted his Grandpa and father with them.

Yugi walked to Sababah and asked him to teleport his Grandpa and father here, and Sababah happily did so.

Both Solomon and Joe were surprised when they saw everyone, including Yugi. Running up to his grandfather and father, Yugi was picked up by both of them, being hugged very tightly. Everyone awed at that, because Yugi looked so small in comparison.

"I'm so happy to see you again, my son." whispered Joe to Yugi, who was smiling the whole time.

"Thanks heavens that you're alive Yugi!" exclaimed Solomon.

They both let him go as everyone proceeded to a wonderful feast. At the grand dining table, Yami stood up with a wine glass in his hand, except there was fruit juice in the cup, not wine.

"Friends, family, I have an announcement to make." Everyone set their utensils down and was listening.

"To start off, I will continue being the Pharaoh of New Egypt. Tea and I will be married tomorrow morning, meaning the wedding will be family and friends only, with Sababah as the Justice of the Peace. So, I wish to make a toast, to the celebration of being together again, and of finding our salvation! A toast!"

"A toast!" shouted everyone, clanging their wine cups together; all but Grandpa holding up a piece of actual toasted bread. Everyone slowly looked at Grandpa, as he looked chibi and said

"What? You said a toast."

There was an awkward 2 second silence, and everyone bursted into laughter, all except for Solomon.

He looked chibi still, as he shrugged his shoulders and ate the toast whole. This made yet another awkward silence, and everyone was laughing again. Yami glanced at Yugi, who was happily enjoying a strawberry cake pop.

"Yugi, may I talk to you in private after dinner?"

"Hmm? Sure Yami-"

"BUTTER BISCUITS!" squealed Bakura as he dived for the bread basket, stuffing two biscuits in his mouth at once.

Yugi looked at Bakura, who was chibi content in eating his butter biscuits, hearts around Bakura.

Yugi and Yami playfully rolled their eyes, and everyone continued eating the wonderful feast.

After dinner, Yami asked everyone to go to bed, since Yugi and he would be walking for awhile.

With both Yami and Yugi walking together down the large hallway, Yami was the first to speak.

"Yugi, I have so much to say, it's hard to choose where to start."

Yugi seemed different, like more happy and joyful than usual. His hands were behind his back, and he strided with great confidence. "Well, start wherever your heart tells you to start." replied Yugi, now looking up at the high marble stone ceilings.

"I...I want to apologize for everything I've done that's hurt you, Yugi."  
Yugi stopped walking, which caught Yami off guard.

Yugi was silent for some time, but turned to Yami and calmly said

"Yami, I forgive you of everything that troubles your mind. I forgive you of anything that sets your mind off balance. I'm sorry Yami, for everything I have done. I can only hope that you will come to forgive me."

Yami stood, a little awestruck on how much Yugi has changed, how much he's matured.

"I forgive you too, Yugi." but Yami was surprised to feel Yugi's little arms wrap around him, his head against his chest.

"I'll always love you, Yami." said Yugi, looking up at him with his huge innocent eyes.

Yami couldn't help but grin widely, hugging Yugi back. "Yugi, there's something I wish to show you. Come, hold my hand and close your eyes."

Yami and Yugi preceded down the hallway, making a left turn to a tall swirly staircase, the kind one might find for a tall tower.

When they both reached the top, they were indeed at the very top of a roofless tower. Yami brought Yugi to the very edge of the tower, allowing Yugi to hold the rail.

"Yugi, you can open your eyes now."

Turning from a view of the back of Yugi's head to the front of his face, his eyes widened. His mouth was agape with joyous awe at the breathtaking sight that was before him.

In the bright golden sunset that was a little above the mountains, the beauty of Cairo, New Egypt proved to be a beautiful sight. The two largest pyramids, one of ancient old, one of futuristic new, both reflected their unique shine in the air, both the shines crossing each other in the shape of an x. Birds flew across the sky towards the sunset, the city itself fused with ancient building and futuristic ones.

Yugi stood there for a good 5 minutes, awe struck and taking in the moment. Yami enjoyed the sight with him, also breathing in the fresh cool air, taking in the moment.

"Well Yugi? What do you think? Have I done well in restoring Egypt? After all, we did do it together."

Yugi's face changed from awestruck to calm, now looking at Yami straight in the eyes.

"We did a perfect job, Yami." said Yugi as he gave Yami thumbs up. Yami gave him thumbs up back, as they both were laughing, walking back down the tower and to bed.

Both of them felt a connection that was stronger than any they had ever had before. They slept very well that night, both thinking of each other before falling asleep.

Everything was just right, everything would last this way...forever.


	50. Until We Meet Again

As soon as everyone had breakfast and changed for the wedding, the wedding started at 10 o'clock in the morning.

Yugi was in his regular school uniform, considering that they gave him new clothing last night before dinner.

Joey, Tristen, and Bakura were also in their school uniform for the wedding, because that's what they were wearing beforehand. They didn't exactly have clothes with them fit for a wedding.

Tea of course was in her wedding gown, and Yami was in his Pharaoh clothes.

Sababah, the Justice of the Peace, was wearing pretty much what he usually wears, a long sleeved white high collared shirt, with white denim jeans and cuffed white low boots. He also was wearing a golden belt, and the ends of his shirt sleeves and jeans had a golden trim.

Grandpa and Joe were both wearing white tuxedos, and Seto was wearing his regular clothing.

The wedding was not too flashy like the last time, but their friends and family were there, and that's all that really mattered.

"Greetings, friends, and good morning to you all." began Sababah, who was holding in front of him an open Bible.

"We come here today to happily wed Tea Gardner and Pharaoh Yami. Peace and happiness is not too far ahead for you two." he said, smiling at Tea and Yami.

Tea felt as though this time, she would marry Yami, not Yugi. It was Yami that she romantically loved, not Yugi, but Yugi was totally okay with it all. Yami was more than joyous about marrying Tea, because he knew they would be married together, forever.

And so, Sababah took the usual role of explaining what marriage is, what it takes and how you can nurture your love as a new husband and wife. After that, he began reading Bible passages on marriage and what the Bible has to say about keeping the marriage strong.

"So, with all that in mind, do you Tea Gardner, take Pharaoh Yami as your beloved husband?"

Tea smiled, and confidently said,

"I do."

Sababah turned to Yami and said

"And do you, Pharaoh Yami, take Tea Gardner as your beloved wife?"

Yami also smiled, and said with confidence as well

"I do."

Sababah closed his Bible and exclaimed

"Then I now declare you two, husband and wife. You may now kiss."

Both of them wrapped their arms around each other, savoring the romantic kiss on the lips, their friends cheering and clapping for them. Joey couldn't help but whistle, which in turn made Tea and Yami laugh when they finished kissing.

And so, with that celebration done and over, Tea and Yami were privately talking to each other while the others waiting in their seats.

Everyone waited patiently for them to finish talking, and moments later Yami and Tea were walking to their friends.

"Everyone, as Pharaoh of New Egypt I have some important things to say." exclaimed Yami to them.

"As much as I would want Tea to stay with me here at the palace, she wishes to go to Domino University back in the States. So, once Tea is finished with college, she will come back here and stay with me, okay? Of course you all can visit when you like, though I will be busy the majority of the year. Do any of you guys have anything to say?"

They all thought hard, and Yugi was the first to speak.

"Um, Yami, does this mean you're not going to college?" asked Yugi a little curiously.

Yami blinked twice, and simply replied

"Yugi, as Pharaoh I don't go to regular schools, I'm taught here at the palace."

Yugi was dumbfounded, which made everyone laugh, including Yugi.

"Now then, I wish to say my goodbyes to you all, but first, Tea will pack her things to leave to the States." Yami said very calmly.

And so, Tea packed her stuff, changed from her wedding gown to her school uniform, and headed to the front gates to where the others were.

"Hey guys, wait up for me!" she happily shouted to her friends who, were next to a helicopter, their luggage already in the helicopter. She was going to put her luggage in, but Yami kindly took it from her and put in her luggage for her.

"Thank you, sweetie." she warmly said to him, tenderly kissing him on the lips. Once that was done, Tea said her good byes to Yami and Sababah, and she and the others stepped into the helicopter, except for Yugi.

Yami noticed this, and walked to Yugi and asked

"Yugi, aren't you leaving with your family and friends?"

"Of course I am Yami, I just wanted to personally say goodbye."

Yami understood, giving Yugi a warm hug and smiling.

"Until we meet again, Yugi Moto." whispered Yami to Yugi.

"Until we meet again." repeated Yugi, savoring the moment of being all wrapped in Yami's arms, the feeling of being safe and secure.

And thus, Yugi and everyone were waving good bye as the helicopter took off, flying them home to Domino City.

When they arrived back home, they all prepared their things and packed up for college.

Later in the weeks, Joey, Tristen, Tea, Bakura and Yugi all met up at the front main parking lot of Domino University.

Giving each other hugs and talking about what classes they have together, which professors they may or may not like, and just enjoying the luxury of being together as friends.

As they all turned to the big university in front of them, they all ran off together, towards the brand new day.

Thus, ending our story, a happily ever after ending, of the young boy who once held the dark spirit inside the Millennium Puzzle...Yugi Moto.

Until We Meet Again...

The End


End file.
